


Change of View

by XinaV



Series: Perspective [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, And Ten, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I just wanted to write some villains, I like writing superpowers, Is this a oneshot, My boys are strong, Or is this a chaptered fic, Supervillains, The entirety of 127, They're not much help are they, Why are you still reading the tags?, thank you, trying my best here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 08:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 25,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20618003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XinaV/pseuds/XinaV
Summary: It’s been two years since Seoul’s youngest hero disappeared.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been feeling pretty uncertain about my writing for a while now and was having trouble moving myself to write for my already posted stories. I wasn't sure about the updates I already posted or the ones I was planning to do. I wanted to get back into the swing of things so I decided to just write an idea that I had—no stress, no planning, no deadlines. Just write. So after doing so, I decided I did like the idea enough to post the story. I don't really know how it's formatted—is it a one-shot or a chaptered story—but I won't focus on that. This is strictly just to get back into the joy of writing and that's it. 
> 
> Thank you for even clicking on this story. I really hope you enjoy it.

It’s been two years since Seoul’s youngest hero disappeared.

At first, no one really thought much of it. Maybe he was off somewhere else. Maybe he was sick. It wasn’t like his absence caused anything big. He was more of the team’s sidekick if you asked the general public. He didn’t do much besides tell people to stay clear and fit into small places; he wasn’t exactly a crucial piece to the team. Even his teammates didn’t think much of it because he always came back to them. He was always there when they really needed him so he’d come back this time when it mattered most. They could handle his job while he was gone, easy.

It wasn’t until he still didn’t show up after two weeks did everyone’s perspectives change. 

There was no one for the public to ask what was going on during the middle of an event. There was no one to shout watch out for the team while they were occupied saving people and didn’t see that loose boulder falling. There was no one to go in the small places little kids like to hide in when they were scared.

And more importantly, there was no one to keep everyone’s spirits up with his smile, positivity, and corny jokes.

After the time span of a month, his absence became very clear and the public began to speak out about it. People started asking questions but there were no answers that could be given. His team started really searching for him and reaching out to him more because this just wasn’t like him.

But everything was futile. He wasn’t home, no records showed that he moved or left the country, and everything under his name led them to a dead end.

Seoul’s youngest hero just disappeared without a trace.

And today marks the two year anniversary of the first day he did not show up. 

“Well well, I finally found you.”

Captive 813 raises his head to see a figure standing on the other side of the glass. He has a black mouth mask on, dark hair, piercing eyes that are a strange color, and an outfit that screams threat.

“Who are you?” 813 says distrustingly.

The stranger holds his hands out in a sign of peace.

“I mean no harm, I’m here to get you out of here,” he says.

813 scoffs.

“I’ve been in this cell for three years. I’ve tried everything in the book even before they restrained my powers. Nothing is getting me out of here. I don’t know how you got in here or how you found me but the second you touch that glass, alarms will go off and this place will be flooded with guards. I don’t know how strong your death wish is but I hope you’re prepared to die,” he says.

The stranger must be crazy if he thinks he can break him out of here. He’s a level 9 alpha risk threat; nothing and no one but those guards is getting him out of here and that would never happen.

“I know you don’t know me but have more faith in me. I made it here after all. Trust me when I say, I’m going to get you out of here, Jaemin,” the stranger says.

813, Jaemin, backs up in surprise before glaring at the stranger.

“How the hell do you know my name? Who are you and what do you want? Why are you trying to get me out?” Jaemin says.

The stranger still shows no signs of worry or hostility. 

“I’ve read everything in your file, I know more than just your name. I know you’re one of the strongest recorded electrokinetics in the past decade. I know they all view you as a threat that can’t be released onto the world. I know they treat you like an animal. Well, I’m here to change all of that. We’re on the same side but we can get into all of that when you’re free,” he says.

Jaemin still watches in distrust, not knowing what this person is playing at.

“Are you deaf, I told you nothing is getting me out of here. Now leave before I call the guards myself,” he responds.

The stranger brushes the threat off though. He turns to the lock that’s keeping Jaemin’s cell locked tight. 

Eye retina scan, voice recognition, handprint, passcode, and a key all needed to unlock the cell door. The glass is power-proof and bulletproof and the slightest unauthorized touch will set off the alarms. It’s pretty secure and escape does seem impossible.

For anyone but him that is.

His eyes start to glow as he holds a hand out toward the door. Jaemin stares in curiosity and doubt. As if a power could really get past the advanced technology they have to keep him locked in here.

Jaemin’s thoughts are stopped short though when his body is suddenly lifted off of the ground and starts floating toward the door.

“Woah woah woah what the hell are you doing?! I’m going to hit the glass. Are you trying to get us both caught?!” Jaemin exclaims.

But once again, the stranger ignores him and continues what he’s doing, bringing Jaemin closer and closer.

Jaemin closes his eyes and braces for impact, seeing that he can’t stop the crazy stranger. 

He waits and waits and waits.

But the impact never comes.

When he finally opens his eyes, wondering what the heck is going on, he sees that he’s outside of his cell standing right next to the stranger.

“What the…how the…you just…and I’m…”

Jaemin settles on making a noise of confusion when the words won’t come out correctly.

“I’ll explain later. Now, let’s get all these restraints off of you and get going before someone realizes that you’re not in your cell anymore,” the stranger says.

Jaemin watches as all of his chains, restraints, and cuffs just fall off onto the ground as if they were never there.

“Your powers will return in about an hour or so. Let’s go. We get you out of here and then I can tell you what’s going on,” the stranger says.

Confused, amazed, and stuck in shock, Jaemin just nods and blindly follows the stranger. If this person has enough powers to get him out of his cell of three years and remove the restraints as if they were nothing then maybe going with the guy won’t be such a bad idea. Besides, who is he to deny freedom? An easy ticket out of here? Yes please.

“I don’t know who the hell you are but I just may like you.”

* * *

“Any leads?”

Yuta leans over Sicheng’s—their resident technopath—shoulder and looks at the screen the younger is looking at.

“None. It just seems impossible. There’s no way this guy could have gotten out a level 9 alpha threat from maximum security all on his own but yet that’s all the video shows. He’s in and he’s out without any help or any setbacks. I just don’t get it,” Sicheng replies.

When security found out that Na Jaemin was gone, it became a serious issue. They contacted the best heroes Seoul has to offer to figure out what happened and what they should do. Na Jaemin may be young but he’s a serious powerhouse. Him being free is not a good thing.

“What would this guy want with Na Jaemin anyway? He’s clearly strong enough if he can break in and out without a sweat; what use is Na? Besides, based on the records, Na isn’t one for cooperation so I know hell is probably being raised for this guy right about now,” Yuta says.

“I’m more curious about who this guy is to begin with. From his stature, I’d say he’s young but his powers are exceptionally strong. We’ve never seen him before so he must be new,” Sicheng says.

They’ve also never seen powers like those before, they don’t even know how to categorize them.

“We’ve dealt with strong threats before, remember who put Na in that security cell. This guy won’t be any different. He’s on our radar now so we’re bound to run into him eventually,” Yuta says.

That’s right, Na along with many other high threats were all subdued by them. They’re used to this by now. A new person isn’t going to startle them any.

“Where are the others right now?” Yuta asks.

“Jaehyun and Doyoung went to the security itself to check things out. They’re making sure it wasn’t an inside job. Jungwoo is out with Taeil to see if they can find any clues as to where the guy went afterward. Ten went to go visit Kun at the clinic to go pick up something. You already know where Taeyong and Johnny are,” Sicheng responds.

Yuta sighs at the last part.

“They're really thinking it’s a conspiracy, aren’t they?” He says.

Sicheng nods, not taking his eyes off his screen.

“They both feel that because this happened on the exact day he first disappeared, it has to be connected somehow. They think maybe this person has something to do with his disappearance,” he replies.

It made two years since Minhyung suddenly vanished. While they haven’t stopped searching for him, they don’t do it as actively as they did when it first happened. They all felt horrible about it but Taeyong and Johnny felt the worst about his disappearance. Johnny was close to the younger and Taeyong felt that as leader he didn’t pay close enough attention. Sometimes, the two get random bursts of anxiety and stubbornness and lock themselves away to look for more clues about Minhyung’s disappearance.

Since Na Jaemin was broken out of his cell the very day that Minhyung disappeared, the two think that something has to be connected in some way, shape, or form.

“I don’t know how far they’re going to get with that but there’s no use in telling them that now,” Yuta says.

“Honestly, I think the guilt is eating at them again but I rather them examine the case with that frame of mind then not examine it at all. We’ll need them so let’s hope we can approach them soon,” Sicheng responds.

They’ll need everyone they can get on this since not only is there a potential new threat but an old one was just released. That’s two people they have to worry about and they don’t know if Na Jaemin is still bitter to the world about being locked away or if rehabilitation helped him somewhat. Searching for Minhyung is important but right now they do have other things to focus on.

“I’ll start breaking their walls now,” Yuta says.

Someone has to help them get on track. They’re a team and they’re always there for each other. They understand how Minhyung vanishing affected each of them differently so they have to help each other through it in the way that they can. But family/team matters aside, they look out for the general public. When duty calls for them to be heroes, they can’t neglect that.

They can only hope that one day the two matters cross.

* * *

“Who are you?”

Captive 423 growls his words when two people approach his cell door and from the looks of it, they’re not workers here.

“They weren’t kidding when they called him animalistic,” one of them says.

That one has nothing but a hoodie to cover his face so it’s clear to see what he looks like. The other one though with his mask and dark clothing is hard to make out.

“Lee Jeno, his powers give him animal-like qualities. It’s why this glass is much thicker than before because his strength is unhuman-like,” the other stranger says.

“How do you know that? What do you want?” Jeno demands.

In the four years he’s been in this cell, not too many strangers come up to him. He’s a high-level threat, after all, he’s not supposed to be taken lightly.

“I read your file, that’s all. I’m here to break you out. Jaemin is here as proof that I can do it,” the masked stranger says.

Jaemin raises his sleeve to show a tattoo that Jeno is familiar with. He knows those cell tags anywhere.

“9A813. You’re a high risk like me. How are you here?” Jeno says, moving closer to the glass to look at Jaemin’s tattoo curiously.

The way his head tilts is like a predator confused by their prey but still on the alert.

“This guy here actually broke me out and got me away before anyone realized. His power is no joke. I thought he was crazy when he told me he was getting me out but I was wrong,” Jaemin responds.

Jeno looks over to the other stranger, looking over him before looking back at Jaemin.

“You know him?” He asks.

“Not at all. He suddenly breaks me out and says he has more people he’s going to free. Wants to introduce himself to all of us at one time. I know there are people everywhere looking for me so if this being with this guy means I can stay free a bit longer, I’ll go with it. I spent three years in a cell, I’m not going back,” Jaemin says.

Jeno doesn’t trust the stranger but clearly he can do something if he got one high-risk person out.

“Fine, you have my interest. Any funny business though and I maul you, got it?” Jeno says to the stranger.

The stranger nods with a friendly smile.

“I understand. Now, do me a favor and stare at Jaemin. It’ll be over before you know it,” he says.

Jeno looks at Jaemin, questioning look on his face.

“It’s freaky dude but it’s best to keep your eyes open,” is all Jaemin responds.

Jeno doesn’t have time to question that because before he knows it, his body is off the ground and he’s moving toward the glass.

“What the-”

“It’s okay, you’re okay. Keep looking at me and reach for my hand,” Jaemin says, sticking out his hand.

Jeno does as he told and stares at Jaemin, also putting his hand out while trying to not focus on the fact that he’s about to hit the wall and set off every alarm there is in his cell.

He’s surprised though when his arm phases through the glass as if it wasn’t there and his hand lands in Jaemin’s. He watches in awe as his entire body passes through the glass, no alarms going off whatsoever.

When his feet touch solid ground, he turns to the stranger in complete surprise.

“I’ll explain it all later. Now, come on. I’m sure they’re going to see you’re missing, especially now that you don’t have your collar on,” the stranger says.

Jeno’s hand shoots to his neck and he feels that he indeed does not have his collar on anymore. He looks back in his cell and sees that it’s sitting there on the floor as if it was never on him. He also belatedly realizes that his chains and cuffs are also off.

“That is freaky,” Jeno says.

“I told you. Come on, the sooner he gets what he wants, the sooner we can find out what the hell is going on,” Jaemin says.

Jeno nods and follows the two, only looking back at his cell once.

He was not expecting this.

* * *

Captive 323 was the next person who met the mysterious stranger.

“Now, I’m really curious,” he hums as he sees not one but three people in front of his cell, two with similar tattoos to him.

“9A813 and 9A423. When I overheard the guards saying that someone was breaking out high-risks, I didn’t believe it at first. But now seeing you two here, I guess the rumors are true,” he says.

The stranger smiles. Unlike when he broke out Jaemin and Jeno, 323 doesn’t give him a look of distrust or a glare. In fact, he seems thoroughly amused.

“And you must be the talked about stranger who’s pulling this off. Now, I’ve had guards watching me during every minute of the day since you broke out 423 but yet somehow you’re here and they’re not. Tell me, is it an inside job?” 323 says.

The stranger chuckles.

“No, it’s not an inside job. Your guards are asleep. They thought they were prepared for me this time but it turns out they were wrong. But since you already know who I am, I guess you know why I’m here, Renjun,” he responds.

“Ooo he even knows my name. You really are interesting. You probably read my file. I know you’re here to break me out but the question is what do you want with a human lighting pole, a beast, and a walking snake? I’m quite venomous you know, who knows when I’ll strike,” Renjun says.

Renjun’s powers are all types of poisons along with abnormal flexibility. In his records, it says that he poisoned six of his guards in the five years that he’s been here. 

“Oh be nice to them, they were in the same position as you. I’m also not very worried about what you may do, it wouldn’t benefit you to strike me now and that’s all I care about at this moment. I’ll explain everything another time. You don’t know me but I’ll need you to trust me on this one. If not, I’m still offering you your freedom,” the stranger says.

Renjun seems to consider the offer. It’s not every day his freedom is offered to him and what can he say, he’s really curious as to what’s going on. If anything, he can always poison the stranger and leave after he gains his freedom from this place.

“Alright, let’s see what you can do,” Renjun says.

“Just keep eye contact with them and you’ll freak out less,” the stranger responds.

Renjun goes along and looks at the two.

“Seriously, don’t think about it,” Jeno says.

Renjun’s about to make a smart comment in reply but immediately shuts his mouth when his body is lifted off of the ground.

“Uh snakes aren’t meant to fly,” he says, trying not to panic.

“Neither are beasts and lightning poles but yet we did. It’ll be over soon. Stop thinking about it,” Jaemin says.

Renjun decides to listen and not think about what’s going on. He’s getting out, he’s getting out. He just has to keep repeating that to himself and he’ll be okay.

He tries not to yelp when his body starts to phase through the glass. Jaemin offers his hand and Renjun readily reaches for it, wanting to make sure that he’s not going to phase through anything else. He sighs in relief when he feels a warm hand underneath his and holds it tightly. He doesn’t let go until his feet touch the ground.

“That felt extremely weird and please tell me that I won’t have to go through that again any time soon,” Renjun says, hands on his knees.

“If we can get out of here before the guards wake up and before they check their cameras, yes you won’t have to go through that again soon,” the stranger says.

Renjun straightens up and pushes the stranger from behind.

“Lead the way, good sir. Let’s get out of here,” he says.

The stranger smiles but takes the lead anyway.

Three down, three more to go.

* * *

“Six people.”

Taeyong turns to his team members with surprise and disbelief on his face.

“He managed to break out six high-risk people in different facilities in the span of a month and no one has come close to even seeing his face,” he says.

Despite all the extra security, all of the added surveillance, and all the advancements, this guy somehow was still able to break out six people from the most secure places Seoul has as if it was child’s play. And not only that, no one has even come close to him. He just vanishes and takes those he breaks out along with him.

“Read off the report of who he took, their powers, their levels, everything. Something there has to give us a clue as to what’s going on,” Taeyong says, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Sicheng projects his files to the big screen for all of them to see.

“His first one was Na Jaemin, age 20, a level 9 alpha risk. Na has one of the strongest electro powers we have seen in years. Three years ago we placed him in that facility after he went berserk and rampaged on the city. Still considered one of the worst blackouts Seoul has had in half a century. Parents willingly gave him over to the government and he seemed to be distant from any other family member. Didn’t have many friends in school, none with strong powers at that, so it’s unlikely someone he knew broke him out,” Sicheng starts.

Which rules out them even beginning to check with the family to see if they may know anything.

“His second, Lee Jeno, age 20, also a level 9 alpha risk. Lee is known as a beast. He has extreme animalistic qualities, from his superhuman strength to his incredible speed to his enhanced senses. Four years ago we placed him there because he was out of control and did not seem to have a human thought in his head. Rumors have it that he was the son of some of the top bio-technicians and they experimented on him and his powers. What would have manifested as him being able to either speak to animals or shift forms into different animals turned into the creation of a beast who acted more animal than human. But that is speculation and nothing has yet to prove that. Family is unknown—it’s believed they were covering their tracks—and he was too unstable to make relationships with other people,” Sicheng continues.

Lee Jeno is a wild card, why would anyone break him out? If he’s anywhere near how he was when they first met him, he can do more damage than good so it’s a high risk being with him.

“His third, Huang Renjun, age 20, again a level 9 alpha risk. Huang’s power is poisons. Everything about him is deadly; his blood is literally poison. While he can inject venom with his nails and teeth, he usually uses weapons to poison people. Five years ago we stopped him from poisoning half the population of Seoul after he claims that he was hunted down and mistreated by some law officials. We put him in a facility for his and everyone else’s safety. He fled from China alone for some unknown reason so his family and friends are still there. Anyone who has tried to talk to him and reason with him was either poisoned or ignored so he doesn’t get along well with others.”

That means he has absolutely no ties to him and couldn’t even have made a tie for someone to try and break him out. There was literally no one in his life that could have done this logically, speaking.

“His fourth, Lee Donghyuck, age 20, a level 9 beta risk. He has the power to manipulate light and is very strong. Ranked a beta because he was nowhere near as hostile as the previous three and he wasn’t as destructive as they were. Three years ago we placed him the facility because he was not in control of his powers and many incidents were happening because of it. Only when we pursued him did he become aggressive but it worked out in the end. Family visited him for his first year there but came less and less after that. They still left him messages though so their bond wasn’t completely cut off. It’s possible that someone would try to free him but after further investigation, no one in his family has powers and any friend of his would barely be considered a level 2 risk, not even meeting the alpha/beta/omega scale level.”

It is possible though that someone he was close to hired someone to break him out. If he was really that close to his family they can’t knock the idea. But then why would this person break out the others too?

“His fifth, Park Jisung, age 18, another level 9 beta risk. His power is earthquakes. He’s ranked a beta because his powers are extremely strong but his actions did not seem intentional. Two years ago we placed him in a facility because he caused a 5.9 earthquake during an anxiety attack he had in public. The idea was to help him better control his powers. Family willingly signed him over but often checked in on him. They agreed that was what was best for him despite his protests each time they visited him.”

A very willing family who believed that what was best for their son. It doesn’t seem likely that they would do anything to get in the way of that. He also seems to be the least hostile of this group so whatever this person is going for, they must be going for power, not aggression.

“His sixth and apparently last, Zhong Chenle, age 19, once again a level 9 beta risk. He has a sonic scream that can bring down structures as if they were made of cards, which gave him his beta ranking. Two years ago we placed him in a facility because he targeted his scream at a high official when they denied him access to apply for citizenship. He left China for safety reasons and could not go back under any circumstances. Family is unknown and it appears he came here with a guardian who left anyway. Citizenship was somehow granted to him during his time in the facility. Whoever pulled those strings is someone we should investigate,” Sicheng finishes.

Six dangerous boys all freed by one mysterious person. So far not looking good.

“Anyone see any common threads between all six of them?” Taeyong says.

If they can find things they have in common, maybe they can get a hint into what this mystery guy is doing or who he is.

“Well, they’re all young. None of them are above twenty-one. My guess is the person who broke them free is also around that age if we’re basing it on his stature and their ages,” Johnny says.

If this person is young then he’d definitely be considered a high-risk threat. The question though is what level? Considering what they saw so far on video, he can be a nine. He doesn’t seem hostile but all of his actions are intentional so it’s debatable whether he’s an alpha or beta risk.

“Also, we were the ones who placed them in facilities. We’ve met and handled every single one of those boys. It’s possible that we’ve gone against him before as well,” Yuta adds.

That’s true and probably one of the biggest leads they have so far. But they don’t remember going after any more people around that age nor do they recall those powers.

“They’re all high risk. Each is a powerhouse on his own. No one under level nine was targeted and no omega risks were targeted either. He knew exactly who he was going for,” Jaehyun says.

There are a lot of people either in jail or in a facility that are considered high risk but not that many that are level nine alphas or even level nine betas. This person had to do a lot of research to find out their levels and to find where each of them were located.

“After that, though, there aren’t many similarities. Their family situations differ. Their hostility levels differ. As far as we can see, these boys have never even met each other before this. It’s possible that this person only chose them because of their risk level and because we put them there,” Ten says.

“So you think it’s something he has against us?” Jungwoo asks.

“That’s a good chance. But what could he have against us? And why all of a sudden? Things were relatively quiet for the past few years and anyone close enough to even be called an enemy of ours is still behind bars. This guy seems completely new,” Doyoung responds.

Their last biggest threat was probably Jisung and his earthquake two years ago. Other than that no one has been extremely hostile toward them or seemed to have a strong enough power to be a serious threat. This mystery person just broke out six dangerous people from maximum security easily. They would have known if they went against someone like that.

“So we just wait until he decides to make a move? He hasn’t done enough to help us figure out who he is or why he’s here,” Taeil says.

Taeyong sighs.

“That may be what we have to do. We don’t even know where to start looking for him. You’d think six escaped boys would stick out in a crowd but somehow they all just go with the wind. We have to gather more information before we can do anything,” he replies.

It’s terrible not knowing what’s going on in your own backyard. There are so many questions that keep coming up and they don’t have the slightest clue to the answers.

All they can do is wait.

* * *

Seven people enter a house, unseen and unnoticed by anyone.

“Welcome to your new home, if you choose it to be that is,” the still stranger says.

The six look around, walking further in after him.

“Do we get that explanation now? I had to wait five breakouts for this and curiosity is eating me alive,” Jaemin says.

The stranger smiles underneath his mask and guides them to the living room.

“Of course. Take a seat, get comfortable. I’ll explain everything now,” he says.

The six of them sit down while he decides to stand in front of them.

“First let’s introduce everyone. It’ll be best if you all know each other, though it looks like two of you have already gotten well acquainted,” he says, gesturing to Jaemin lightly running his hand through Jeno’s hair.

“What? He’s like a big puppy, he likes it,” Jaemin says innocently.

Jeno growls but it’s playful in a way, not wanting the younger to move his hand. 

“My name is Jaemin. I was the first he broke out. You all should thank me, I went through that freaky stuff first and I was the proof that he could do it. I really like dogs by the way so expect me to be doing this a lot,” Jaemin says, referring to petting Jeno.

Jeno gives him a look but still doesn’t stop him from doing what he’s doing.

“My name is Jeno. I am not a dog. I’m animalistic, yes, but I’m still human. Treat me like an animal without my permission and I’ll tear you to shreds, understand,” Jeno says, threatening growl slipping through at the end, sharp teeth showing.

Chenle and Jisung nod immediately, not wanting to test his threat.

The stranger, on the other hand, chuckles.

“I don’t remember Jaemin asking for permission,” he says with a smirk.

Jeno grumbles under his breath but the words ‘his smell is comforting’ breaks through the mumbles. Jaemin beams happily at the response.

“Alright, away from them, my name is Renjun. Like any snake, don’t provoke me and I won’t bite you. Also, avoid my food if you want to prevent being accidentally poisoned,” Renjun says.

“Great, two animals that may kill us. I didn’t take my freedom to be killed,” Donghyuck says.

Jeno and Renjun give him a glare but it doesn’t faze him. Smart comments seem to be his forte along with Renjun.

“My name is Donghyuck. Yes, I’m brighter than the sun, I know, it's amazing. I’m apparently crazy enough to go with a stranger after being caged up for three years but so are you guys so I’m not worried,” Donghyuck says instead.

They were always told not to follow strangers but yet here they are. Being locked up does things to you, you know.

“My name is Jisung. Umm, it’s nice to meet you all. Thank you for getting me out of there,” Jisung says, thanking the stranger.

Even through his mask, it’s clear to see that he was not expecting that. He wasn’t expecting anyone to thank him.

“Oh, uh you’re welcome,” he replies, scratching his head.

He decides to take the attention off of him and gesture to Chenle.

“Go ahead. You don’t need permission to speak anymore,” he says.

Due to Chenle’s power, in that facility, he was only allowed to speak when he was told he could. Any other time, they would cover his mouth with a tie if he tried to speak.

“My name is Chenle. Are you the one who got me my citizenship? They say someone vouched for me,” he says.

The stranger nods, once again not expecting the attention to be on him.

“I pulled a few strings off the books. You’re officially a citizen of South Korea so don’t worry,” he says.

That means he was planning this for a while if he knew Chenle was not a citizen. He had to know to do that.

“Alright, we introduced ourselves, now who are you?” Renjun says.

The stranger, glad that they’re going back on track, turns to Renjun.

“Yes, let’s continue. Before I tell you who I am, I should tell you what’s going on, it’s only fair. Now, I broke you six out for a reason. You all have one thing in common you know,” he says.

“And what’s that?” Donghyuck asks.

The friendly aura the stranger had since they entered drops completely and that threatening feeling he carries come back in full swing. The change is extremely sudden and they don’t know how they’re supposed to take it.

“You were all put away into those terrible facilities by the certain group called Neo-Culture Tech and for weak reasons might I add,” he says.

And just like that, the same way his mood fell, so does each and every one of them at the name.

Neo-Culture Tech—NCT for short—is a name that gets their blood boiling each and every time they hear it. Those stupid heroes locked them away for years, not caring that those places were terrible. They were treated less than criminals there. Half the time, they felt more like lab rats and captives—like their tags suggested—than anything else. Oh, how they hate that group.

“Jaemin was just trying to cool the excruciating burning in his veins the growth of his powers caused by releasing his lightning when they chose to lock him away. Jeno was out of control due to inhumane experiments done on him when they decided that he was too animal-like to be talked down. Renjun was mistreated and abused by law official; they’re the ones who were going to use his blood as a poison to make money off of an antidote scheme but those heroes didn’t listen to him. Donghyuck was trying his best to control his powers but they didn’t care, they locked him away for the ‘greater good’. Jisung was having an anxiety attack when he caused that earthquake, which they knew, but they locked him away anyway, even though he constantly said how terrible he is treated there. And Chenle, poor Chenle, his powers just got the better of him when he became distraught over the fact that they were denying him citizenship for no reason. He didn’t mean to attack the official with his power but they locked him away anyway. None of you were listened to when you tried to explain your side of the story,” he continues.

They wonder how he knows this. They know that in their records they’re painted as the bad guys so clearly he couldn’t have known that from their files. 

“I, like you, have a personal vendetta against NCT. They’re the ever perfect heroes who can do no wrong. They’re tomorrow’s future. Everyone loves them and thinks they’re so amazing. People eat out of their hands, thinking that their precious heroes will always save them and nothing can defeat them.”

The way his words take a sharp tone and his fist clenches show them that he  _ really _ has a vendetta against them. It almost sounds like he knows them real personally or they personally did something wrong to him.

“I got you six out to make you an offer. I want to prove that they aren’t that great, that they aren’t that strong. I want to make them regret everything they ever did. I offer you guys your revenge for what they did to you if you join me,” he says.

Their ears perk up at the word revenge. They’ve dreamed of getting back at those heroes for wrongly locking them away. They were defeated when they were at their weakest and it was nine against one, hardly a fair fight. 

“What’s the catch?” Jeno asks, understandably.

A chance to redo and gain revenge almost sounds too good to be true.

“You’re going to be considered villains by everyone in this city if not further. And we work as a team. An actual team, no one person doing everything and no one excluded unless they want to be,” he responds.

“You’re a villain?” Jisung asks.

The stranger makes a face so as to say yes and no.

“I have yet to come out as a villain but yes. I’m tired of playing by the rules. You save people’s lives over and over and no one pays you any attention because you’re just a  _ sidekick _ . Everyone gives the credit to the people in the spotlight but never realize what you do until you go missing. I’ll show them all that I’m a threat and not a weakling made to sit on the sidelines,” he responds, hissing out some of his words.

By the response, they can tell that there’s much more to this guy than he shows. It’s safe to assume that he was a hero at one point before he decided to make the change over to the dark side. He seems to have some deep-seated issues.

“So let’s get this straight. If we become a team of villains with you, we get to have our revenge on NCT? That’s it?” Jaemin says.

“Yes. I hope you guys don’t have too many feelings toward Seoul because we'd really cause havoc on this place. Seoul has never done anything for me anyway so I don't care much about that. I just want to show NCT what a real villain looks like,” the stranger replies.

“And if we don’t want to join?” Donghyuck asks.

“Then you don’t have to. I offer you my house as a refuge until you figure out what you want to do. And if you want to get out of the country then I have a friend who can help you with that along with an identity change,” he replies.

It’s completely their choice. He’s not forcing them to do it or expecting them to do so because he freed them. A team never works if a member is forced.

They all look at each other, facial expressions not revealing much. 

Renjun is the first to speak.

“Count me in then. They labeled me as a villain when I was being mistreated so I might as well prove them right. I want to give them and those law officials hell,” he says.

The stranger’s eyes light up at the comment.

“I’m in. They and the government protected all of those people who experimented on me and then called me the danger. I went four years being treated like an animal because of that,” Jeno says.

“I’m in too. The only thing this place has done for me is give me somewhere to be other than China. They wouldn’t even give me my citizenship when I was doing it the right way. I owe them nothing,” Chenle says.

The motivation hidden behind their tone of voice makes him light up. They need that. They need the reasons, the motivation, the determination. That’s how they’re going to beat NCT.

“I’m joining as well. I owe one of them a punch in the jaw and another one a shock to the neck. They tried to short circuit me as if I was some type of battery and not a person. Anyone who was supposed to care for me gave me up anyway so why should I care about this place?” Jaemin says.

“I’m in. I want to show them how much of a danger I can really be. They said I wasn’t in control of powers, well them I’ll show them how much control I have now,” Donghyuck says.

“I’m in too. I was just afraid but they painted me to be unstable and a hazard to everyone. No one listened to me then so fine I’ll make them listen now,” Jisung says.

Underneath his mask, the stranger smiles devilishly.

“Great, I’m glad we’re in this together,” he says.

He finally takes off his mask. 

With his bare face shown at long last, they can tell he’s around their age. He’s another powerhouse that bloomed early in the power world just like they were and were locked away for.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Mark Lee.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave them supernames but didn't even use them. I had troubles deciding when and when not to use those names so please don't mind that.

It’s the sound of a loud crash that gets them to all pop up.

“What in the world was that?” Ten says.

The sound is immediately followed by another crash and some screaming. They all get on their feet and rush over to Sicheng’s station.

“Sicheng, tell me you know what’s going on,” Taeyong says.

Sicheng doesn’t look away from his screen but the grimace they can see on his face is telling enough.

“Yeah, I do but you’re not going to like it. Our mystery guy finally decided to show up and it looks like he made friends with the boys,” he says.

He pulls up a live video feed from one of the street cameras. On screen shows seven boys causing damage to the city, six whose powers are very familiar.

“He teamed up with them? But how? None of them knew each other and they all preferred to be independent. How did he get them to team up?” Jaehyun questions.

“I don’t know but they’re causing chaos. If we don’t get down there soon, I know this won’t turn out pretty,” Sicheng responds.

Just as he says that, one of the masked boys—clearly Na Jaemin with that electricity sparking on his hands—turns to the camera watching and fires a bolt at it, frying its circuits and cutting off the video feed.

“Alright, let’s move. We know how the six run so don’t focus too much on them. We subdue them and return them back to their facilities. Our priority is finding out as much as we can about that mystery person. Let’s take him down here and now before this gets too far out of hand,” Taeyong says.

They all nod and go to get suited up. They have people to save and young people to stop.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the scene of all the chaos. Bystanders start to cheer as they see their beloved heroes arrive, feeling safer knowing that they will take care of things.

“Well well well, look what we have here. The city’s precious heroes finally showed up,” the one in black shorts, a big shirt that somehow fits his frame very nicely, a shirt-like jacket that goes past his shorts, and a dark purple mouth mask says.

They know this one is Donghyuck just by the radiance he has. He looks as if he should be an idol performing on stage with that outfit instead of out wrecking the city.

Taeyong, as leader, steps forward.

“We don’t want to do this the hard way. All of you stand down and surrender and this will go easy,” he says.

The one in a sleeveless shirt—it looks like its sleeves were brutally ripped off—and distressed ripped jeans that sit perfectly on his waist, chains hanging from the pockets, steps forward in response. By the size of his muscles, it’s no doubt Jeno.

“Surrender? You’re more arrogant than you were four years ago,” Jeno says through his mouth mask—his much more angular than the one Donghyuck is wearing.

Next to him stands the one they already identified as Jaemin. His hair is fluffed up as if electricity ran through it but somehow it’s still can be considered neat. He wears black jeans that shape his body right, a simple button-up shirt with two harnesses crisscrossing across his chest, a mouth mask similar to Donghyuck but in black, and bright blue eye contacts. He’s another one who seems like he belongs on stage but the look definitely makes him electrifying.

“If you think we’re going to surrender then you must be delusional. We are not going back to those hell cages,” Jaemin says.

“If that's your issue, we can discuss this. There’s no need to take this out in violence,” Jungwoo says.

Someone snorts and the attention is turned to the person standing in a black-tinted poison green hoodie, dark fitted jeans, a mouth mask that has dripping fangs, and dark bluish-green eye contacts on, With the color scheme and the figure, it’s Renjun.

“Now you want to discuss something with us? How hilarious. You telling us about not using violence when that’s exactly what you used when you locked us away when all we were trying to do was  _ discuss _ the matter with you,” he says.

“Interesting how the tables turn huh,” the one next to him says.

He wears a black shirt with a silver windbreaker over it along with dark blue jeans. His mouth mask is similar to Jeno’s where it’s black and angular but not as much as his. This one must be Jisung.

“You boys don’t want to do this. We don’t know what he told you but this is not the way. You were all making progress in your rehabilitation. Don’t let that progress go to waste because of some stranger. How do you know he’s not just using you for your powers?” Johnny says.

Next to Jisung, the person chuckles. This one is wearing black ripped jeans, a sweater-like shirt, and a white windbreaker. His mouth mask is like Jaemin’s and Donghyuck’s but with the structured shape of his jaw and his high cheekbones, it almost doesn’t look like it. This is Chenle.

“You want to see our progress? Then why don’t we show you our progress,” he says.

The people on his side cover their ears as he takes a deep breath. Before any of the heroes can do anything, he lets out a sonic scream, knocking them all back. Glass around them shatters and bystanders fall to the ground from the piercing sound.

It takes the heroes a moment to get back on their feet, ears slightly ringing from the attack. Chenle’s screams are definitely louder and more direct than last time.

“Remember what I said. You know who we’re focusing on. Let’s move and protect the civilians,” Taeyong says.

The stranger that they still can’t identify even from here, smirks. He’s the only one who had his mouth mask down off of his mouth but is also the only one wearing an eye mask too. He really plans on keeping his identity a secret.

He pulls up his mask and signals to the boys.

“Let’s show them how it’s done,” he says.

The heroes don’t have time to think about the sound of his muffled voice—it’s purposely distorted clearly—because immediately, the seven run at them.

“We need to take him down,” Yuta says.

He charges at the masked stranger in return. The stranger stands in a defensive position, ready and waiting for the attack. Yuta smirks to himself.

_ ‘You may be powerful but let’s see how well of a fighter you are.’ _ Yuta thinks.

He continues to run at the stranger, pulling back his arm and ready to punch. Just as he gets close to the stranger, only an arm’s length away, he disappears.

And reappears behind the stranger, swinging his leg to land the blow.

He’s in shock though when his leg is caught without the stranger even looking in his direction.

“Nice try,” he says.

He pushes away Yuta’s leg and lands his own hit on Yuta all in one fluid motion, sending the elder back.

Yuta holds his side as he looks up at the stranger in shock.

How did he know what he was going to do? Even when people know about his teleportation power, they never know where he’s going to appear. How did this guy know exactly when and where he was going to appear?

The other heroes are also surprised by that. It’s not often someone lands a hit easily on Yuta.

“Your fight is with me, pay attention,” Jeno says, swinging at Jaehyun and barely missing him by a hair’s width.

Jaehyun knows better than to let Jeno land a hit on him. With his strength, Jeno can break a bone with one hit.

“We don’t have to fight Jeno. I don’t want to hurt you,” Jaehyun says, dodging Jeno’s hits and having a few close calls.

Jeno chuckles darkly.

“Trust me, you can’t hurt me if you tried. And the name’s Savage so learn how to use it,” he replies, sweep kicking Jaehyun’s feet from under him.

Jaehyun hits the ground with a thud but he has no time to focus on the impact. Instead, he immediately has to roll out of the way, barely missing Jeno’s swing to his rib cage.

“It’s not nice to look away from your opponent you know.”

Jaemin sends another bolt of electricity at Jungwoo who quickly puts up a wall of ice to block it.

“Hiding behind ice? Really? I’m insulted that you doubt my power that  ** _much_ ** ,” Jaemin says, shattering the ice wall with a stronger bolt.

Jungwoo watches as the ice around him shatters into countless pieces and then looks to see Jaemin stalking toward him.

“Jaemin, I don’t want to go on the offensive,” Jungwoo says.

“Call me Shockwave and unless you want to fry, I suggest you start fighting back or making stronger walls,” Jaemin responds.

A flash of light burst not too far away from this fight and in the middle of it stands Donghyuck going face to face with Doyoung.

“Using lead to shield yourself from my light; smart way to use your metal ability, I’ll admit. But there’s only so much lead you can create and only so many ways you can block me,” Donghyuck says, creating a sword out of light.

Doyoung ignores the want to ask how does he know that he can only make so much of a metal from out of nowhere. It’s more important that he ends this fight with the least amount of problems.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to use your powers like this, Donghyuck. You were making progress and you know it. What happened?” Doyoung says.

Donghyuck snorts.

“I acted the way those guards and doctors wanted me to act. It was the only way to make my hell there somewhat bearable. And my name is Solar Flare; you think only heroes get cool names to use in public?” He responds.

He swings his sword but Doyoung blocks it with a metal shield.

“I’ll show you how much control I have over my powers now.”

Not far away, Sicheng stands in front of the young Earthshaker, waiting to see what he will do.

“You’re young, you have your life ahead of you. Don’t throw that away to be some type of villain, Jisung,” Sicheng says, trying to reason with him just as they did the first time Jisung unleashed his power on the world.

“Seismic. My name is Seismic. And I didn’t have my life ahead of me. My life was forever ruined because I was placed in that stupid facility. That stays on my record forever for everyone to see. To society I was already a villain, I’m just making the matter final,” Jisung responds.

Sicheng, still alert, continues to try and reason with him though.

“You haven’t attacked me yet. We both don’t want to fight and you know that. Just stand down and we can figure this out,” he says.

Jisung rolls his eyes.

“Oh, I want to fight but I know you’re more than just your technology. You’re a skilled fighter, a minor tremor isn’t going to stop you from advancing. I’m just making sure you don’t go anywhere else. Try to join someone else’s fight and I’ll destroy this entire square. My team is prepared for it too so no, I’m not bluffing,” he replies.

Sicheng’s eyes widen. He was lured into a trap basically. Jisung isn’t an immediate danger but if he leaves to help his other members, Jisung will become one. He has to stay here and play standstill with him or start the fight himself if he wants to move on.

_ ‘Damn they thought this through.’ _

“Earplugs? You think earplugs are going to stop me?”

Chenle laughs at the small earplugs Taeil just created. To think that someone believes plain old earplugs can block out his sonic scream is hilarious.

“The others covered their ears with their hands and were perfectly fine. There are limits to your power, Chenle,” Taeil says.

Chenle laughs harder, the sound piercing even without his power.

“It didn’t affect them because it wasn’t directed at them. Do you really believe that I didn’t gain better control over my powers in the two years I was locked away? I’ll make your ears bleed even with those earplugs. And you better call me Syren now. Villains get super names too you know,” he says.

“You don’t want to be a villain. It’s not the path for you, you know it’s not,” Taeil tries.

Chenle’s eyes light up in devilish mirth.

“You have no clue what I want to be.”

Nearby, Ten flips out of the way of Renjun slashing a poisoned dipped knife at him.

“Is this where you try to tell me that I don’t really want to do this and that you don’t want to fight and I tell you that my villain name is Viper and that I’m going to kick your ass? Because if it is, your timing is late,” Renjun says.

“I thought you said I should pay attention to our own fight? Not taking your words to heart now,  _ Viper _ ?” Ten responds.

Renjun twirls the knife in his hand, amused at Ten’s response.

“Sassy, that’s always interesting. I see why he advised us to draw this out. This is more fun,” he says.

Ten’s ears tune in more at the referring to their mysterious stranger.

“So you take orders from him? He really is dragging you guys along, isn’t he? Do you feel indebted to him and that’s why you’re doing this?” Ten says, trying to draw information.

Renjun scoffs though.

“I don’t take orders from anyone nor do I feel like I owe someone. I’m here on my own free will and choice. And if you want to find out about him, survive long enough and maybe I’ll be kind enough to give you a hint,” he says.

“And by hint you mean you’ll push me over there and let me fight him myself,” Ten replies.

“Well, don’t you know me so well.”

Speaking of their mysterious stranger—and what the heroes believe is the real cause of all of this—in the center of all of the individual fights stand him going against Yuta, Taeyong, and Johnny.

“Three against one and you still can’t land a hit on me. I haven’t even used my power yet. I thought you guys were great heroes,” he taunts.

Yuta glares frustratedly at him. He just doesn’t understand how this guy knows each and every time where he’s going to appear.

“Enough of the small talk. What did you tell those boys for them to do this? You hide until you have a team behind you, maybe it’s you who’s not so great,” Taeyong says.

The stranger chuckles.

“I didn’t tell them a thing, I just freed them. This is all them, you just don’t want to accept that because then you’ll have to think more about everything. And besides, I’m powerful, not cocky. No one can go one against nine and expect to win. A real team is just what I wanted,” he says.

Yuta and Johnny charge at him once again, trying to catch him off balance, but he easily dodges them. He kicks Yuta in the back and elbows Johnny behind the neck.

“Aren’t you going to come at me too, Leader? Or are you going to stay far away and hope your anti-gravity powers can finally do something against me?” he says.

“Who are you? What do you want and why?” Taeyong asks.

He stares down the stranger, trying to find any hint or clue that can tell him something about this guy. They need to figure out something.

“Oh, now you decide to ask me that? What, finally realizing that you’re going to need a bit more than over-confidence to go against me? If you want to call me something, call me Riot. That’s also a little clue for you about your other questions if you’re smart enough but I know you aren’t,” Riot says.

Riot? They’ve never heard of a villain under that name. New villain or a new alias?

“You’re new so maybe you don’t understand this yet. We are NCT and we protect this city and its people no matter what. You may be strong but we will defeat you one way or another,” Taeyong says resolutely.

The few idiotic bystanders that are still around watching cheer at the declaration, shouting for NCT’s triumph. They have faith in their heroes. They know they’re going to win.

Riot, on the other hand, looks around at the bystanders, blood rising and fist clenching. His teeth clench under his mask in anger.

_ ‘Stop cheering! Run away already. They’re losing, stop cheering!’ _

He’s so temporarily caught up in his anger that he’s not aware of Johnny reaching for him until it’s almost too late.

A sickeningly familiar feeling comes over him as Johnny reaches out for him from behind. In an ingrained reaction, he grabs Johnny by the arm and flips him over his shoulder, slamming the older into the pavement.

He looks down at him, glaring sharply.

“Stay away from my memories,” he hisses.

Johnny searching through his memories and making him relive them is the last thing he wants and needs.

Taeyong charges at him to help Johnny but he backs away, easily dodging all of the hits. It becomes a hand to hand fight between him and Taeyong but all he does is block and dodge, hoping to humiliate the older.

He hears the sound of wind breaking and a shout of pain before he feels the warmth behind him.

“That’s enough double-teaming.”

Donghyuck stands behind him, light sword drawn and aimed at a now injured Yuta who tried to attack from behind.

Lightning rushes past Riot, aimed at Taeyong, making the hero leader back away quickly before he received a bolt to the face.

“Quick reflexes,” Jaemin says.

The heroes regroup—though it physically hurts Yuta to move—seeing that the boys are all standing with each other now. They wonder if this is about to become a group fight.

“Did you get what we wanted, Viper?” Riot asks.

Renjun holds up a flash drive.

“Without a problem. You weren’t kidding when you said techie there always has to carry one,” he responds.

Sicheng looks down and checks himself. When did he even get close enough to steal that from him? Wasn’t he fighting away from him?

“It’s empty, it won’t do you any good,” Sicheng finally says.

Riot looks at him focused emotionless eyes.

“Oh trust me, it’ll do us plenty good. We’ll continue this another time. Until then, we hope you wait in anxiety,” he says.

Donghyuck waves his sword in the air and a blinding light takes over the entire area. 

When the light finally dies and the heroes gain back their vision, all they see in front of them is the damage left behind from the fights.

The boys are gone.

* * *

“So why exactly do we want an empty flash drive?”

Renjun hands over the flash drive he stole to Mark, finally asking the question he was wondering since it was mentioned that it was empty.

Mark takes the flash drive and goes to grab his laptop while everyone else sits down in the living room, making themselves comfortable. Mark joins them, choosing to sit on the floor and placing the laptop in his lap.

“Because we’ll be using it to further our purpose,” Mark responds.

Donghyuck hangs upside-down on the couch, head toward the floor and feet over the back, so he can face Mark.

“Ooo good answer Markie. I understand what you mean, cause you know I’m your favorite, but for the ones who don’t have as close of a bond with you as I do, can you please explain more,” he says.

Mark rolls his eyes playfully.

They’ve all spent about a month and a half with each other now and somehow they got used to each other very quickly. Of course, hiding away together for so many hours really gives you time for group bonding—Mark is the only one who can go outside without a disguise so they usually stay indoors—so the process was speeded up a bit. Though they’ve never met each other before they were broken out, they all just click so well it’s actually kinda scary.

That being said, Mark is becoming very used to Donghyuck’s antics.

“I have no favorites and sit up straight before you make yourself dizzy,” Mark says.

Donghyuck sticks out his tongue childishly but sits up anyway, mainly because he already felt the blood rushing to his head.

“One year older than me and he thinks he’s a grandpa,” Donghyuck replies.

Mark ignores the comment—the old jokes are a regular thing for the six of them to crack on him—and instead, holds up the flash drive so he can explain.

“Sicheng made this himself just as he does for all his tech. Everything he makes is advanced technology and runs way better than anything else we could get our hands on. His flash drives can download and upload things at a speed you wouldn’t imagine and they can connect to anywhere. We’re going to use this to upload a video of today’s events. Despite the ‘touching’ declaration Taeyong made, fear and doubt will enter people’s minds after they see that we were an even match for them. If the video is everywhere then no matter how quickly Sicheng takes it down, a large number of people will have already seen it. The way to ruin NCT completely is to first ruin their reputation,” he explains.

He already set up cameras to record today’s fights so he could do this now. Sicheng isn’t the only one who knows how to use technology to his advantage.

“Makes sense but wouldn’t he be able to trace you if you plug it into your laptop? He is a technopath,” Jeno says.

Mark smirks.

“Yes on normal circumstances but this is laptop has parts of his tech in it too. The only thing he’ll be tracing is his own IP address and the last location that was used for these parts which was his own place so he won’t be finding anything,” he responds.

What better way to throw Sicheng off than to use his own tech against him? Fight his genius with his own genius.

“That’s actually really well thought out. How did you do all of that?” Chenle says.

“I had a lot of time to plan,” Mark replies.

In the time they’ve spent with Mark, they found out pretty quickly that he’s a planner. Every big thing he does is planned down to the last detail and he makes sure he has as few flaws in it as he possibly can. He’s thorough and it’s a major plus for those on his side. Powerful and a good planner, good combination.

But if there’s one thing they have to mention about him it’s that he has the tendency to be vague. His answers are open-ended and leave room for more questions. He seems to know everything about everyone but no one knows past his name and his age. They guess he had to be a hero at one point but not even that is not confirmed. They know his personality pretty well now, know his power, and knows that they’re all on the same side but after that, he’s still kind of a stranger to them all.

“How’d you get his tech for your laptop though?” Jaemin asks.

Mark’s body tenses slightly before he continues what he was doing with the flash drive and video.

“I stole it from him. I doubt he even realizes it’s missing. He always did have the flaw of not keeping track of his inventions around certain people,” he responds, not looking at any of them.

There he goes again with another answer that just raises more questions. 

“Okay, but how did you steal it? How do you know so much about him and his work? Actually, how do you even know his real name or any of their real names?” Donghyuck asks, curiosity overriding the idea of respecting his privacy again.

Mark doesn’t answer but they can feel his mood change. He continues to do what he’s doing but it gives off a completely different vibe. 

“You also knew exactly where the flash drive would be and what their fighting styles were like. Come to think of it, you know a lot about them that no one seems to know,” Renjun adds, also curious about what Mark is hiding.

Mark still doesn’t answer though. His jaw locks showing that he has no intention of answering either.

They’ve asked these types of questions before but Mark always finds a way to avoid answering or changes the topic. Usually, they let it slide but this time they don’t think they will. Before, they were just trying to get used to each other and their dynamics. It didn’t matter much that he kept avoiding the topic since they had other things to focus on. But today, today they worked in a way that even they didn’t expect. They naturally work well together and they have great potential to be an amazing team. They can’t reach that though if they don’t even know if they can fully trust the person who put them together to begin with.

“Oh come on Mark. You can’t expect us to keep believing everything you tell us if you never explain anything properly. We were just such a badass team out there and I think we’re close enough to call each other friends. We can’t better our relationship if you keep not telling us things. You’re almost as mysterious as when you first broke us out,” Donghyuck pushes.

They think it’s time to at least find out a little bit more about what’s going on. Yes, they want revenge on NCT but that doesn’t mean they’ll blindly believe everything Mark tells them, especially if they don’t know what’s his game.

“You know everything about us, even things that weren’t in our official files, but yet we barely know anything about you. It’s only fair that we want to know a little bit more. You said you wanted us to be a real team but yet we have a member who chooses what he tells us,” Renjun says.

Mark closes his laptop and stands up. He turns and begins to walk away, choosing to walk away from this conversation than to face it head-on.

Donghyuck sighs exasperatedly and Renjun rolls his eyes. Everyone stands up as the tension rises.

“Walking away doesn’t take away the questions, Mark. What is it that you’re not telling us? Why do you avoid it every time we ask you anything similar to this? Why won’t you just speak to us?” Donghyuck says.

Mark ignores it though and just keeps walking, not even looking back for a second.

“Please hyung,” Jisung says, tone sincere and open.

Mark stops dead in his tracks, body going rigid at the title. He doesn’t speak and doesn’t turn around but he also doesn’t continue to walk away.

“I know whatever it is must be really sensitive to you and you don’t like to speak about it, so maybe we’re wrong for constantly asking you and pushing you about it. I know we haven’t known each other for long and even we don’t open up like that all the time so it could be hard for you to open up yourself but we have to know some things. This isn’t just a team made to get revenge. We’re spending every single day together, we have to get to know each other better or else we’ll never last. Every member matters remember; that’s what you said,” Jisung says.

It’s silent in the room once he stops speaking. Mark still hasn’t shown any response but no one is going to say anything yet. 

If he can ignore their youngest’s sincere plead to know then maybe they should start reconsidering things.

“Raion.”

The sound of Mark’s voice startles them since secretly they weren’t really expecting him to say anything.

“What?” Chenle asks.

Mark turns around but doesn’t look at any of them. His expression is unreadable but it feels like a mixture of emotions at the same time.

“Raion,” he says, louder and clearer this time.

They’re puzzled at what he means. Is this another one of his vague responses?

“As is NCT’s youngest member that disappeared two years ago?” Jeno asks for clarification.

Mark nods, still not looking at any of them.

“What about him?” Jaemin asks.

What does a missing hero have to do with what they’re talking about?

Donghyuck is the first to catch on though, piecing together what he already assumed, what they knew, and the expression on Mark’s face.

He gasps and moves closer to examine Mark better.

“You’re him aren’t you? You’re Raion?” He says.

The question raises everyone’s attention and they start to put the pieces together themselves. They all stare at Mark waiting for him to really explain now.

“Was. I was him. Like Jeno said, he disappeared two years ago,” Mark says.

Mark finally looks up at them and takes in all of their confused looks and even slight distrust. He understands though, he did just drop a big bomb on them with that one.

He’s starting to accept that this is going to be a long discussion. But maybe this is one he needs. He hasn’t talked to a soul about what he went through and the feelings he experienced. Maybe opening up to these people who he ventures to call friends will be a good thing.

“Sit down, it’s going to be a long story,” Mark says.

They decide to take his word for it and sit down but none of them take their eyes off of him as he moves to stand in front of them, just how he did when he first properly introduced himself to them.

“I was Raion, NCT’s youngest member and Seoul’s youngest hero. At least that’s what the official title was. To the public I was just their sidekick and to NCT themselves, I was just a cute tag-along. Raion means lion in Japanese. Yuta gave it to me when I first joined them. At first, I thought it was such a cool name and it really made me sound like a hero. I learned later on though that the name was given to me because they saw me as a baby lion but couldn’t necessarily call me that in public. It was like the name you give to your child who’s playing dress up as a superhero,” he starts to explain.

It was the team’s nickname for him, baby lion. They saw him as something adorable, not very fierce. The lion part was them being generous really. They didn’t expect him to grow into anything strong.

“I looked past the name though. I was happier that I finally got to be a hero and finally got to do something great. I got to be someone. Being a kid fresh from Canada whose own parents were having a war on who would be forced to keep him, all I wanted was to be someone. Someone that people looked up to or needed. So I took the baby treatment from them. I ignored the feelings that arose when they didn’t let me on missions for my entire first two years of being a hero. They said I was helping by staying back and being safe. They said people weren’t ready for me yet. I—an idiot—believed them and stayed back like a good child. I thought that if I was good enough, they’d see I was trustworthy and would start taking me along to do real hero stuff. So I listened.”

Each time he had to watch them be heroes from Sicheng’s cameras made him want to join more and more. He wanted to beg them to let him really be a part of the team and help out. But he didn’t. They told him patience is a virtue so he waited.

“They eventually did take me along with them. My first time was the happiest moment of my life. I didn’t get to do anything but I was there. Seoul knew that NCT had ten members now, not nine. I thought that the next time I’d be able to do something. I was wrong. After a few more times, I quickly found what my role was. I was the one who stayed to the sidelines while they handled the big stuff. I told bystanders to stay clear and I answered all of the questions. I went into uncomfortably small spaces for whatever reason they gave me. I didn’t like it all very much but Johnny convinced me that every piece matters and that what I was doing was important. I thought I mattered.”

Johnny was the one he was the closest to mainly because the elder seemed to try to understand him. He always told him that he did matter to the team and that he really was a member. Johnny meant the most to him when he was still with them.

“I got impatient though and started veering from what they were telling me. My powers were growing and it was becoming uncomfortable for me not to use them. So I didn’t listen completely at times. I spent nights watching Sicheng work instead of going home so if they ever needed me on computers, I could be of use. I started practicing more and watching their practices closely to be a better fighter. When there was a person they didn’t save because they missed them, I went and saved the person myself. When they didn’t see that boulder falling, I moved it away from hitting them. I did my own little heroic acts, hoping that they’d notice and give me bigger things to do. I was hoping that the people I helped would start to appreciate me. But they didn’t. No one noticed me and no one appreciated me.”

People he saved would just go up to Taeyong or one of the others and tell him thanks for sending their sidekick to save them. They’d give all the older members of NCT all the credit when he was doing a lot on his own. He even saved the older members from some things sometimes but no one ever gave him that credit.

“I was often excluded from team meetings; they felt the baby of the group didn’t have to be there. I tried to show them how my powers were growing and how I was developing them but no one listened to me. I wanted to spar with them during team practice sessions but I wasn’t allowed. More and more it felt like I wasn’t really a member, I was just the adorable child they could coo about. I hated it but I never said anything because part of me felt like I was just overreacting. They were my friends, my family, of course they cared about me. So I kept being the sidekick even though it tore me up inside. The insecure and hurt feelings turned into anger, however, after I overheard them talking one day. They were having a team/family discussion but I wasn’t even thought of even after everything I did. I always listened to them and acted my best but I still wasn’t included in the family in the end.”

They talked about important matters, important decisions, but no one thought to invite him. No one thought to hear his opinion or to at least let him sit in. They told him he was a part of their family but yet they couldn’t even include him in a non-heroic related conversation. They couldn’t include him in their family discussion.

“Every naïve thought I had was suddenly gone and I began to see things for its face value. They weren’t really busy, they were just too busy to pay attention to me. Every suggestion I had wasn’t stupid, they just didn’t want to listen to the baby of the group. I wasn’t a valuable piece, I was an extra. I wasn’t needed. That really became clear when they started putting you six into the facilities. I heard your stories, I did the needed research. From Renjun’s story, I tried to tell them to listen to the other side. After they put Jeno in, I tried to tell them that the facilities aren’t the greatest. After Jaemin’s, I tried to tell them that they were being too rough. But no one ever listened to me. They ignored me completely. Each occasion just made me angrier and angrier because I knew I was right. If I was such an important member, why was I constantly ignored by them like everyone else in my life did to me? ”

Each time he was brushed off, he felt his blood begin to heat a bit more. Each time he got more and more fed up. He didn’t leave his neglectful divorced parents to go be ignored by someone else who was supposed to care for him.

“As time went along, I saw more of their flaws. The public painted them to be perfect and invincible; I saw them for who they were. They were too sure of themselves. The public loved them and it puffed up their pride. They defended the officials even when they were wrong because bad publicity is not good for a hero. They never listened to more than one side of the story. They had glaring flaws in their fighting that could easily be taken advantage of. There was just so many things wrong with them. My dream of being a needed and wanted hero was twisted the more I watched them and the more I was ignored and mistreated. It was completely shattered though after a certain...event happened.”

His muscles tighten as he thinks about that fateful day. Betrayal, anger, hurt, all these feelings run through his mind as he thinks about it. That became the very first day he began to hate NCT.

“I don’t want to talk about it but it was eye-opening. It was the day my anger became hatred and I couldn’t stand them anymore. I was tired of being ignored. I was tired of being looked down at. I was tired of everyone seeing me as some weak extra. I realized that I’d never be the hero the public loves and want. I’d never be the useful member that I was trying to be to them. I’d never succeed. So I disappeared. It took them to reach the end of the second week of my absence for them to start searching for me; shows how much they really cared about me, but I was gone. I moved houses, changed my name, forged records, and started again. During my two years, I realized that if being a hero meant being compared to them again in any way, I didn’t want to be a hero. I wanted to get back at them for what they did to me. I wanted their arrogance to come back and bite them. That’s when I thought of you guys; the cases they didn’t listen to me on. I thought if anyone would join me in revenge, it would be you six and if not, it’ll still give them some panic while correcting the wrong they did.”

He spent those two years making his plan perfect and practicing his powers more. In his mind, if he couldn’t be a cherished hero then he’d be a feared villain. He’d prove his parents wrong for calling him an insignificant brat who’d never be anything big in life. He’d prove civilians wrong for treating him like a weak sidekick. And most importantly, he’d prove NCT wrong for treating him like a little pawn. He’d get them back for giving him hope that he finally belonged somewhere and that he mattered and then crushing it all in front of him.

“So, to answer all of your questions, I know so much about them because I spent years with them. I was able to steal from Sicheng because I was close to him and he and the rest of them never thought I could do anything. I know so much about you guys because I watched your cases go down and had first-hand information. I’m not using you guys to get my revenge. I meant it when I said I wanted a team, a real team. I guess part of me is still foolishly trying to grasp for any semblance of belonging. I want what I thought I was going to get from them and I want to prove to them and myself that I don’t need them to have it,” he concludes, just speaking his mind.

His chest feels weird after going through all of that again but he doesn’t think he minds it. He threw away that old life of his but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still bother him. Sometimes, he’d watch news events of how NCT saved the day once again and part of him aches. He wanted to be one of them, smiling to the camera while people cheered in the background. He’d watch the recaps of how they worked so well together as a team and part of him would wonder if it was his fault that they didn’t really accept him. Was he not good enough? Then the doubts would become anger and he’d hate them even more for this. His past just won’t leave him alone and it plagues him so much. The anger is better than the insecurity though.

The room is silent again, making it the only real uncomfortable thing for Mark at this moment. He wouldn’t be surprised if they all distrusted him now because he was once a part of the very team that put them away. He’d understand if they hated him too. But he doesn’t want them to hate him. It’s always been a flaw of his but he gets attached easily. The gift of family and friends always slipped from his grasp and it’s the one thing he’s always wanted for as long as he can remember. He always keeps in mind that they could leave him at any point but part of him really hopes that they could become that missing piece and stay with him. It’s only been close to two months of being with them but he doesn’t think he’s ready to go back to being alone and in hatred.

When no one says anything for what feels like an eternity to Mark, the silence becomes too unbearable.

He turns on his heels and starts to walk away again, this time to escape feeling like the odd one out again. 

He’s pulled back, however, and feels warm arms wrap around him from behind. His body tenses in the embrace.

“You’re an idiot you know that,” Donghyuck says.

The comment is said without any type of malice or harm. It’s a regular old snarky Donghyuck comment and it makes Mark relax just a tad bit.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree with him. You really are an idiot. And is walking away your go-to method? If it is, we’re going to have to teach you something else,” Renjun says, putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder.

Mark gives an awkward chuckle, not knowing why they’re insulting him this time but a bit relieved that they are.

“And why is my name being slandered this time? Must be serious if you’re agreeing with him,” he says.

Jaemin jumps up from his spot and walks in front of Mark. He crosses his arms and looks Mark in the eyes.

“You’re an idiot because you didn’t tell us that earlier. Knowing you, you haven’t even given yourself time to deal with any of your emotions during your two-year disappearance. You just love to keep everything bottled up, don’t you?” Jaemin says.

Jaemin hits really close to home but Mark won’t say anything about that. They’d call his bluff in a minute anyway.

“Wasn’t very sure how you guys would take the fact that I was a hero and that I was a member of the very group we’re going against. It’s also not some of my most pleasant memories,” Mark chooses to respond with a shrug.

“You’re using past tense for a reason though. You were part of their team but you aren’t anymore. Not trying to be insensitive, but you weren’t included in the members we hated to begin with. We knew that there were ten members but only nine members locked us away. We couldn’t hold it against you even if we wanted to because you barely did anything while being with them, let alone do something wrong,” Jeno says.

It’s true, during the cases for them Raion didn’t participate in the actual deed. For Renjun’s and Jeno’s, he was made to stay back and watch from cameras. For Jaemin’s, he was keeping bystanders safe from any stray lightning. For Donghyuck’s, he was sent on a wild goose chase and missed a good part of it. For Chenle’s, he was watching over the official that the younger accidentally targeted. And for Jisung’s, he was filled with so much anger for his team members, he was trying to get in their way without them knowing. He wasn’t part of the members who locked them away.

“Honestly, if you would have said that you hated them so much because you were Raion then we would have agreed to help without all of the questions and would have spared us from even having the chance to doubt you. Your reason is just as serious as ours you know,” Chenle says.

Mark half smiles at the thought of him telling them earlier and them agreeing. Now knowing Donghyuck and Jaemin’s dramatic nature, the two would have probably acted over the top with it. Renjun would have acted as if he didn’t really matter to him but would have joined the two mentioned previously in his own way. Chenle would have probably been really loud and passionate while Jisung would be the opposite of him, showing his care in a more subtle way. Jeno—if he wasn’t already being held in between Jaemin and Donghyuck and their drama—would have either made a growling comment in support of him or a joke to join the mood. It makes him warm to think about it.

“It’s actually kinda a good thing that you were a hero before. That means we have an advantage over them because you know them so well. You spent a lot of time watching them from the sidelines and analyzing them; you really know what they can do and what they can’t. It’s like having an insider,” Jisung says, putting a more positive look on it.

Donghyuck ruffles Mark’s hair, leaning on him more.

“That’s right. We have our own little informant. They won’t know what hit them,” Donghyuck says, causing Mark to laugh and let go of his tension.

Jaemin grabs Renjun’s hands excitedly.

“Ooo this makes things more fun. They don’t think we’re actually in this because we want to be so they’ll be humiliated when we keep kicking their butts and outsmarting them,” he says.

“You’re going to accidentally poison yourself one day if you keep grabbing me so quickly,” Renjun says, smile breaking through the serious act he tried to keep up.

The mood of the room changes just like that and Mark really appreciates it. It almost doesn’t feel like he just shared a big part of his history for the first time in years. He must have looked grim while explaining because he knows their antics when they’re trying to cheer one another up. He’s grateful for their efforts though. It makes him feel better about things. He thought that the second he told them who he really was things would go south and he’d be left trying to figure things out once again. The fact that they seem to take it well and still joke around relieves him of such a big concern. It makes him feel a bit more founded in this team he put together.

For the first time in years, Mark feels like he can really be a part of something.

* * *

“Please tell me we’re finally going out to do something again. I’m bored.”

Donghyuck whines and throws himself across Renjun and Mark’s laps, pouting at the eldest.

“Why are you on me if you’re complaining to him?” Renjun says, looking down at him.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

“Oh shut up, you know your cold-blooded self loves the heat I radiate and that’s why you never push Jaemin or I away,” Donghyuck says.

Renjun doesn’t respond, choosing to give him a look instead before returning back to his phone. Donghyuck, satisfied with that response, smiles and looks back to Mark.

“If he poisons you one day, I won’t guilt him into making an antidote for you. You’re on your own,” Mark says.

“You say that but you scolded him just yesterday for being mean to me so I think you’ll help me. Now, are we going to do something or have you been staring at your laptop for the past two weeks for no reason?” Donghyuck responds.

Mark sighs and flicks Donghyuck in the forehead.

“Yes we’re going to do something and I was just about to call you guys to tell you all before you started being a brat again. If you can get the others then that would be great,” he says.

Donghyuck pops up without hesitation.

“Finally, some action. I’ll be back in a minute,” he says.

He rushes to the other rooms to go grab the others, loudly telling them to hurry up. A yelp can be heard from the living room and it’s a good guess to have that Jaemin shocked Donghyuck once again—on accident or on purpose, both have an even chance of being the case. 

It doesn’t take long after that for the five of them to come to the living room and join Mark and Renjun. 

“How am I the loud one when a whole Lee Donghyuck exists?” Chenle says, pointing at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck makes an offended face at the comparison of him to the living banshee that is Zhong Chenle.

“Your power is literally you being loud,” Jeno responds.

Jisung mumbles that he has a point there and Chenle turns to him with a look of betrayal on his face.

“Discuss that later, we’re finally going out. I think that’s what we all wanted,” Renjun says before Chenle can reply.

Chenle sits back with a hmph and Jisung gives him an apologetic smile in reconciliation. The older, being a sucker for the younger’s smile that he constantly hides, immediately forgives him and smiles back.

“I think you guys are going to like this one. It took me a while to plan out but I think I got all of the flaws out,” Mark says.

“Well then, let’s hear it,” Jaemin says.

Mark nods and turns his laptop toward them so they can see. On it is a picture and address of a corporate building.

“This building here is one of the few office buildings for the facilities you guys were locked up at. As you know, the facilities are just labs and prisons. For them to run properly though, there has to be a place where all the paperwork and technical stuff happens. That’s what the office buildings are for. This particular one is where they create and document all of the security changes and upgrades each facility goes through. This is where they come up with things like the power restraints that were on Jaemin and the monitoring shock collar that was on Jeno. It’s an important building,” Mark says.

“Are we destroying it?” Jisung asks, raising his hand.

They’re always down for destroying anything that has to do with those facilities.

“No, we’re not. We’re breaking in and stealing something from there. You see, they’ve been working on something special. It’s similar to the power restraints but for longer distance use. They’ve been having troubles with it though since they’re used to dealing with powers such as the ones Jisung and Jaemin have and don’t know how that would translate for someone like Renjun or Jeno whose power is in their DNA physically. They can’t suppress poison like they can electricity. They’re figuring it out so before it’s complete, we’re going to steal the schematics for it and then destroy any and all work they have on it,” Mark responds.

“How do you know about all of that? Don’t tell us you worked there too at one point?” Donghyuck asks in a joking manner.

Mark chuckles and shakes his head no. 

Ever since he explained things to them, it’s become a running joke to blame any knowledge he has on a secret job he probably had at one point in his life. They exaggerate a lot sometimes which makes it extremely funny.

“I’m acquainted with someone who works there. He’s young and bitter, a reoccurring theme in our generation if I must say. His name is Xiaojun, or at least that’s his name now. He also had his name and history changed with the help of our other friend Lucas. He’s good friends with Lucas so we’ve met a few times before. He knows who I am and was the one who originally told me the best ways to get into the facilities and how your restraints and chains worked. Once the video of our fight with NCT was posted, he told me what they were trying to create and their setbacks. He really hates that place and they’ve been threatening to fire him lately for no reason so we’re doing him a favor by doing this. He says once we steal the plans, he can finish it himself for us and then we can test it on the heroes,” Mark explains.

“So you have a friend who can get you a new identity like it’s nothing and a friend who works in an office building for some of the most secure and high tech places who is willing to help you with your plans. Any other cool friends you have?” Jaemin says.

“They’re Lucas’ friends but I’ve dealt with them before and they’re cool. There’s Hendery, he’s the one who got me this place, and Yangyang who made the sleeping injection I used on some guards,” Mark responds with a shrug.

He’s really fortunate that he and Lucas have been good friends for a few years now or all of this stuff he did would have been much harder. Heck, his two years disappearance would have been extremely hard if it wasn’t for Lucas getting him a new identity and asking Hendery to get him a place to live that could also house six other people—they share rooms of course. Thank goodness Lucas hates NCT because they denied him—denied Yukhei, the person he’s not anymore—membership to join the team. Definitely made things a lot easier.

“We really should meet these people,” Chenle says.

“You’d like them, trust me. Anyway, Xiaojun told me exactly where we’ll find what we need and he’ll meet us here when it’s all done. He also gave us a virus to insert after we got what we needed. He says not even Sicheng will be able to fix this virus; I’ve seen his work, I believe him fully when he says that. If we do this right, we’ll be in and out before NCT is even alerted of an issue,” Mark says.

“Sounds interesting to me. How are we going about it?” Jeno says.

A chance to ruin anything for those facilities is a chance they won’t pass up. Especially if they have inside help with it at that. Besides, they don’t need another power restraint used against them; if they can ruin that now then why not. 

“Well first, Jaemin has to shut down the power in the building. I’ll be with him. The backup generators usually take about a few seconds to come back on but we have a way to make it take about five minutes. In those five minutes, we’ll shut down the cameras and any internal communication devices for good. We’ll also have to ruin cell service with a bit of static in the air, just in case anyone wants to call for help,” Mark starts.

“A minor knockout or completely destroy their power and camera systems?” Jaemin asks.

“Fry it completely. It’ll make things much harder for them and much easier for us,” Mark responds.

Jaemin gives a thumbs up with a smile. That’s going to be easy. He’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t end up setting things on fire this time.

“Next, Jeno, Renjun, and Jisung will be holding Xiaojun as ‘hostage’. You’ll find him during those five minutes of no power. The power will come back on before you reach the room, that’s okay; just make sure you reach him before the power comes back. You’ll ‘force’ him to take you into the room where we need to go and make him show you what you’re looking for. You’ll do the rest of the work from there. No doubt people will still be in that room so I leave it up to you three to decide on what you want to do with them. Just make the show convincing,” Mark continues.

“How will we know it’s him?” Jisung asks.

“One, he’ll keep his badge turned inward so you won’t see the picture or the name. They’re not allowed to do that there so he’ll be the only one like that. Two, there will be a call and response type of thing. Renjun will ask him a specific question in Chinese and he’ll respond back with a certain phrase so you can verify that it’s him. I’ll tell you what it is later once he confirms it with me. I’ll also give you a description of him for extra help. Don’t worry too much about how you treat him, he’s expecting a good show. He wants to be able to claim trauma when he’s questioned,” Mark replies.

It was actually Xiaojun’s idea of pretending to be a hostage. He said it’ll help them make sure that they’re getting what they’re there for. Not only that but what better way to screw over that place than to help ruin it.

  
“Finally, Chenle and Hyuck will be going to one of the center rooms and uploading the virus once we get everything we need. Again if there are people there, do whatever you think is best with them. Once that is done, we all leave and head back,” Mark finishes.

Three little teams and three assignments. It was the best and most efficient way of getting all of this done after a lot of careful planning. The risk doesn’t lie with getting caught—they have powers, what are regular people going to do—but with communication reaching outside and NCT being contacted. If they don’t have to fight that group this time then better for them though they’re always ready for a fight.

“How are we getting inside the building? Won’t they have like tight security or something?” Chenle asks.

And it’s not likely that they’re just going to storm in there while anyone and everyone can still call for help.

“Each group will get in a different way. I’ll be taking Jaemin in so we’ll reach the power room on our own. When the cameras are shut down, I’ll let you and Donghyuck in. Now those three are going to be walking in through the front door,” Mark replies.

“How? I doubt they’ll let three strangers just walk in past security,” Renjun says.

Mark turns to him and gives him a devilish smirk. At the look, Renjun is beginning to think that he should start regretting that he spoke up.

“Good question, Injun. Tell me, how flexible are you?” Mark says.

Renjun hesitates to answer, not knowing where this will lead.

“Uh very?” He replies more as a question.

Mark’s smirk widens.

“And how well and how long can you fit into smaller spaces?” He continues.

Now Renjun really isn’t liking where this is going but he knows Mark already knows the answers to his own questions. He frowns.

“I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?”

~~~

A package delivery truck pulls up in front of the building as it does every Thursday afternoon.

Two people step out of it, hats pulled down, bangs low, and mouth masks high. One of them grabs three big boxes while the other grabs two medium-sized boxes from the back of the truck before turning to the building.

“The fact that Hyuck knows how to steal a truck and Mark’s friend somehow can get the right packages on said truck is pretty amazing,” Jisung says, adjusting the two boxes in his hands.

“Let’s not forget that they could get us the right uniforms too. It’s good to have friends in high places and friends with money as they say,” Jeno replies.

_ “I’m just surprised Jeno even knew how to drive. And he doesn’t have road rage,” _ Donghyuck says through the earpiece.

_ “That’s because he has everything else rage. Now get moving Jeno, just because I can stay like this for long doesn’t mean I want to,” _ Renjun says.

Jeno chuckles, fixing the boxes in his hands a bit carelessly before nodding to Jisung.

“Come on, we have people waiting for us to get moving it seems,” Jeno says.

The two walk through the revolving doors, keeping their face turned away from the general direction of any cameras—they were warned ahead of time where the cameras were and Jaemin was able to sense their electrical pulses earlier, confirming their locations—as they head to the front desk.

The man at the front desk looks up at the arrival of approaching people. His face shows the surprise he has seeing one person carrying three big boxes all on his own.

“Hi, we’re here to make a delivery. It says it’s going up to the...19th floor,” Jisung says, acting as if he’s reading the label.

“Yes, yes I see. Would you like some help with those? They seem heavy,” the man says, picking up the phone to call for security to help.

“No, it’s alright, I’m quite used to this. May we go? We’ll need signatures for the packages since people have been complaining that their packages have not been dropped off. It’s a new policy,” Jeno responds.

It’s amazing what a nice voice and a believable story can do because the man nods and let them through without any more questions. He sees their hands are really full and the boxes have fragile labels on them so he doesn’t ask them for the IDs. They walk past the desk, thanking the man for his kindness.

“Alright, we’re in. We’ll give you the signal when we’re ready,” Jeno says.

_ “Copy that. We’re in position already and let me tell you, being phased through stuff still feels really weird. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the part of his powers,” _ Jaemin responds.

Jeno hears Mark say to Jaemin,  _ “Well you have to do it one more time so prepare yourself now.” _

He and Jisung get in the elevator and head up to the 19th floor where they’ll meet this Xiaojun person once Jaemin shuts down the power.

When they reach their destination, they see the hallway is empty. Good, that’s one less thing they have to deal with.

“Alright, we’re here,” Jisung says.

They walk down the hall so the cameras watching them don’t spot anything suspicious with what they’re doing.

_ “Watch your heads just in case. I don’t know if anything will shatter this time,” _ Jaemin says.

It’s still for the moment after that. All they can hear are the lights buzzing and their own soft footsteps while everything seems perfectly calm.

Then it changes. 

The lights in the hallway grow really bright, sound increasing as they do, until they eventually blow out, leaving the hallway in darkness.

_ “Power is successfully out and all cameras are down. You guys have five minutes starting now to move,” _ Mark says.

Jeno and Jisung turn the corner—Jeno leading since he naturally has night vision—and head into a room that they were already told would be empty. When they enter, they put down the boxes and Jeno moves the top two boxes from the bottom one he was carrying. He taps the box.

The box moves a bit before the flaps open up and Renjun comes out of it, stretching his limbs before giving a glare to Jeno.

“Treat me that roughly again and it’ll be the last thing you do,” Renjun threatens.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t my idea to put you inside the box. I didn’t drop you right?” Jeno responds.

“If it makes you feel any better, I still think it’s pretty cool that your body can fold like that and stay that long in that position,” Jisung says, being the peacemaker.

Renjun gives Jisung a light smile before glaring back at Jeno. He’ll get back at him later for moving the box so much on purpose.

“Let’s go, Xiaojun is probably looking for us now,” he says, putting on his mouth mask and a beanie to help push down his hair so his bangs fall a bit lower.

They leave the room, not wanting to waste a single minute and walk down the hallway towards the elevators. 

Somehow, the hallway is still empty so when they pass by one of the rooms, Jeno peeks in to see why. The workers seem to have decided to either continue what they were doing by just using flashlights or wait patiently for the power to come back on. 

“It makes no sense to leave your station if the generators are going to come on any moment now. Standard instructions given during blackouts.”

The three of them turn at the voice and see a person standing in front of them. Thanks to Jeno’s clearer vision, he can see that the ID badge is turned around, not showing the name of the person. He nudges Renjun.

“哪条路到入口 _ (Which way to the entrance?) _ ” Renjun asks politely.

It’s a simple question with a simple answer, which is why it was chosen. It’s casual and no one will question you about it if they heard and understood it. Anyone would tell you the obvious answer that you have to take the elevator down to the lobby. Xiaojun, on the other hand…

“走楼梯到屋顶，但不要往下看 ( _ Take the stairs to the roof, but don’t look down) _ ,” he responds with a friendly smile.

Renjun turns to Jisung and Jeno and nods. It’s their guy.

“You found us quickly,” Jeno says.

“A co-worker and I left our stations to drop something off on this floor and then I conveniently got into a conversation so I was down here once the power went out. In my department, it isn’t strange to see us go floor hopping. Three people walking in the hallway during a power outage, now that's strange,” Xiaojun responds.

He made sure he covered his own tracks so nothing seemed staged. He hates this place but he can’t get fired yet.

“He wasn’t kidding when he said you knew what you were doing. Well, we’ll do introductions later, for now, we have a job to complete,” Renjun says.

_ “Cameras are down and Hyuck and Chenle are in the building. Power comes back on in two minutes,” _ Mark says.

“Power comes on in two which means we’re doing good on timing, so let’s get this started, shall we?” Jisung says to Xiaojun.

Xiaojun gives them a smug smile.

“This’ll be the most interesting thing I’ve done in this damn place for months now. Thank goodness for this,” he says.

He raises his hands in the air as if he’s surrendering and turns his back to them. Renjun grabs him by the arms and holds them tightly behind his back. He then puts a knife only a few centimeters away from his neck.

“For once this knife isn’t laced in poison but for this show let’s act like it is,” he says.

“Glad to know I won’t be accidentally poisoned. Now, come on, the room you’re looking for is on the twenty-first floor. Hope you don’t mind taking the stairs,” Xiaojun responds.

“Lead the way,” Jeno says.

They continue down the hallway, reaching the staircase before the power flickers back on. In the secrecy of the staircase, Renjun doesn’t hold Xiaojun as tightly so they can walk up the stairs easier. When they get to the floor they need, Renjun hands over Xiaojun to Jeno.

“Here, I’m going to go make sure no one is in the hallway. I’ll tell you when it’s clear,” Renjun says.

He exits the staircase and they wait there for him to come back.

It doesn’t take him long to return, smile in his eyes.

“Come on,” he says, handing Jeno the knife to put on Xiaojun.

They leave the staircase and immediately see at least four knocked out people on the ground with darts in their bodies.

“It won’t kill them if anyone is wondering. It just shut down their bodies,” Renjun says.

“You move extremely silent and I now see why he called you a snake when describing you to me,” Xiaojun mumbles.

They walk all the way down the hallway, no one else coming out of any rooms so they don’t stop or slow down. The room is at the very end of the hallway, a bit away from the others on the floor. It also requires an ID to enter so Jisung grabs Xiaojun’s ID.

“Now this is about to be fun,” he says.

Xiaojun mischievously smiles to him before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opens them again, a grimace replaces his facial expression and fear fills his eyes. 

He’s good, they’ll give him that.

Jisung swipes the ID card and the door opens for them.

The way Xiaojun is harshly shoved into the room while a knife still remains deathly close to his neck gathers everyone’s attention.

“No one screams and this can go in your favor,” Jeno says aloud to the room.

But as always, there’s always one person trying to be the hero in these situations. The foolish worker gets up and tries to run toward the wall phone for security. 

He falls down before he can even make it past his neighbor’s desk, dart in neck and foam starting to come out of his mouth.

“Let us rephrase that since some of you aren’t too bright. No one moves and no one says anything and you don’t have to visit the hospital today. Is that clearer?” Renjun says.

Everyone slowly nods, slowly raising their hands to show that they aren’t going to do anything.

Jeno shoves Xiaojun forward again and they walk to one of the computers, Jisung throwing the person there out of his seat. Jeno forces Xiaojun to sit down.

“Pull it up,” he growls.

Xiaojun hesitantly nods and enters the passcode for the computer. From there, with ease, he pulls up the exact file they’re there for.

Jeno moves Xiaojun over once more and Jisung takes his seat. He looks over the file to make sure it’s exactly what they want. It’s exactly as they told it would be. They have to give it to some of these workers, they’re really near genius with some of the stuff they come up with.

“They’re incomplete, they won’t do you any good,” Xiaojun says, playing the brave roll.

“We don’t need them complete, this is good enough,” Jisung responds, taking out a flash drive.

He plugs it into the computer and starts downloading everything in the file. It doesn’t take it long to download. While he’s at it, Jisung also downloads some other important files just to really mess with them. Besides, more information for them isn’t a bad thing in this case.

When he has everything they want, he unplugs the flash drive and puts it back safely in his pocket.

“Got it, time to leave them their present,” Jisung says through his earpiece.

_ “Understood. Sit back and watch the screen,” _ Chenle replies.

It takes about two minutes before things on the screen start to change. The screen begins to glitch and change colors. By the sounds of gasps from others in the room, every computer is doing this. The computer in front of Jisung suddenly freezes. When it moves again, the file on the screen slowly disappears into the void.

“What did you do?!” Xiaojun exclaims.

Jeno yanks him back roughly, reminding him who’s in control right now.

“We just gave you another project to work on that’s all and you’ll be on it for a while,” Renjun says, pushing Xiaojun’s jaw in an antagonizing manner.

_ “Everything is good, you’re clear to leave,” _ Mark says.

That’s all they needed. Everything is officially done and they got what they came here for.

Jeno gives Xiaojun an apologetic squeeze before shoving him harshly to the ground.

“Thanks for everything,” Jisung says smugly.

They leave the room, door closing behind them. Jeno punches the access pad with all his force, breaking the device and causing the door to stay locked. No one in there will be getting out any time soon and internal communications are still down so it’ll be a while before security come.

They run down the stairs—anyone can catch them in the elevator—heading to the back exit, skipping stairs by the threes. 

“Hey, what was that dart that made the guy’s mouth foam? I barely saw you move your hand to throw it,” Jisung asks Renjun.

“Oh, nothing deadly. His body will naturally burn that toxin out especially if they hook him up to some fluids to help cleanse him. You’ll be surprised how many things can negatively affect your body’s systems,” Renjun replies.

“I wonder what Hyuck and Chenle did where they were at. I didn’t hear anything shatter so I don’t think Chenle screamed. Ironic that the two loudest people were teamed up together,” Jeno says.

_ “Just for that, don’t be surprised if the truck is gone by the time you reach down here. I’m leaving you,” _ Donghyuck replies.

“Don’t do that, Jisung and I did nothing wrong. Jaemin, don’t let him leave us,” Renjun says.

Jaemin makes an affirmative sound in response. Thank god they can always rely on him because they know that Donghyuck would leave them just for the fun of it.

_ “Jeno, bother Hyuck and Chenle later. You already have Renjun mad at you for how you carried him in that box, don’t make two more people want to go after you,” _ Mark says jokingly.

Jeno chuckles in response.

“I still think I’m innocent there but okay,” he says.

With their playful mood, one would have thought they were running from a wild party that the police just crashed and not escaping from a building that they just stole important and confidential information from. They’re definitely getting well adjusted to their new lifestyle.

And they’ll be the first to tell you it’s extremely freeing.

* * *

It’s officially been six months since Riot appeared, broke out the six boys, and created a villain team with them.

And they still have next to nothing on this guy.

Each time they face him, he has his identity well hidden, he rarely uses his powers, and never lets Johnny get near him. Clearly, he knows what Johnny’s power is more than the normal person does but that could mean he just watched them very closely. The fact that he seems to know every move they’re going to make also backs up the idea that he somehow watched them a lot. He’s also good at hand to hand fighting if he doesn’t rely on his powers when going against them.

But that doesn’t tell them much about him or how they should deal with him. Not to mention that those boys actually work together well. When they think they can just try to focus all of their efforts on him, the other six come along and further the point that they are a team and they’re going against all of them. They’re past the point of trying to convince them that they shouldn’t be doing this; whatever Riot told them stuck and those boys made up their minds.

It’s frustrating really. He appears out of nowhere, is able to break out six high-level risks with ease, band said six together into a team, can hold his ground in a fight without using his powers, seems to know a bit about them, can steal valuable information, and can disappear without a trace. Don’t even get Sicheng started on the virus that they put in that building’s system. He would literally get sick if he tried to use his powers on—it’s purposely made to harm technopaths, it’s like putting a virus in them—and he just couldn’t fix it the normal way which left the company to basically start over from scratch. It was an awfully well put together virus.

It’s like those boys are always one step ahead somehow.

They have to find something to deal with that. At first, they didn’t really want to admit it but it’s becoming more and more evident that those seven are an even match for them, a challenging match at that. Even the public is noticing that. Someone once asked after they escaped once again if NCT will be able to defeat them. It was the first time in a long time that question was asked. They can’t be mad at the civilians though, they understand what it must look like from their point of view.

What they don’t understand though is the amount of supporters for the seven that are slowly trickling in. On videos that have anything to do with them, some comments are cheering for the boys, saying they’re glad NCT finally has some trouble. Some are saying that if they had powers they would do the same thing. Other people (read: weirdos) are swooning over the seven as if they were idols and not villains. Some even have fan pages for them. It’s just so strange that people would actually be in support of people who are causing damage and are a threat to the city. They knew some people hated them for whatever reason but they didn’t think it was like that. Even some of the ignorant people who are still stuck in the days where having powers was shunned are tolerating the seven more than they did any hero. It’s getting worrisome how many people there are who would support a villain.

The arrival of Riot just tipped the scales way off balance and they need to fix that before things get worse.

“I think I found something.”

Doyoung calls the others over and he rewinds the video he was watching.

They were rewatching videos and street cameras recordings of each time the seven showed up and did something. They were hoping that they’ll find at least one thing that could help them but they were running into a wall. Maybe this time they finally have it.

“What did you find?” Johnny asks.

Doyoung puts the video speed down so they won’t miss anything and then presses play.

“Well it’s two things actually. The first is that it looks like only Riot really knows when and where Yuta will appear and that’s only if he’s around. The others just have quick reflexes so they aren’t caught off guard but you can see here that Donghyuck looked around first and then was able to block Yuta’s hit after he appeared. Riot doesn’t have to look around, he just knows. But he doesn’t know where Yuta will appear when he’s not fighting him himself, otherwise he would have warned his members,” he says.

“That means it probably isn’t part of his powers and he has some secret way of knowing where I’ll appear,” Yuta says.

If it was part of his powers then he’d always be able to tell where Yuta would appear but he can’t. He can only do it when Yuta is appearing around him so that means he has a method to know where each and every time.

“Yes and that leads me to the second thing; his powers. He doesn’t use them often but we’ve seen them enough to guess about them. When he was breaking them out of the facilities, we saw that he was able to lift them up and phase them through the glass so it’s some kind of telekinesis mixed with a phasing power. That being said, it seems to require more focus than anything else he does, if he wants to be careful that is. This is the fight where he uses his power to raise Chenle higher for the younger to use his sonic scream. They played it off well but after looking at it a bit closer and slower, he wasn’t paying attention to any of the fighting going on around him. Renjun and Jeno suddenly stepped in, going wild, while he quickly raised and held Chenle up. His focus was on keeping Chenle steady. Now, we’ve also seen him use his powers to pull Jaehyun back from trapping Donghyuck in a barrier. He was able to do that without stopping his fight so clearly his focus only wanes when he wants to be more careful with his powers,” Doyoung continues.

“Which means he does have a weak spot. His fighting is so well because his reflexes are quick and his focus is great. But if he gets off of focus then that leaves him open,” Ten says.

If they can even find one weak spot on him then this can change the game. It could be the one thing that makes the fights go more in their favor. It could help make the civilians watching feel a bit more confident in them. They just need one thing to tip the scales.

“Yeah but he gains focus pretty quick though. Remember when he first appeared in public and he was distracted for a moment? I was able to get near him but he regained focus immediately and flipped me over his shoulder. I think he also used his power to make sure I hit the ground hard,” Johnny says.

“True but that’s because it was targeting him. If he’s using his powers on one of his members, he doesn’t switch focus back as quickly because he wants to make sure they stay safe. For a villain, he strangely has hero morals when it comes to his team members. Unlike other villain teams that have appeared in hero history, this team works as a team and fights beside each other. They cover each other’s backs and never do an attack if it could harm someone on their side. He wouldn’t act thoughtlessly using his powers on his members so he won’t be able to gain focus quickly,” Doyoung responds.

The way that team functions is oddly hero-like when it comes to cooperation. That’s what makes them so much of a challenge, they actually function as a team. No one person is trying to be a show-off or take all the heroes on at once. They’ll pause in their own fight to help one another out. Riot does this a lot but it never stood out because when he hand-to-hand fighting, he can refocus very easily.

“Do we have more videos that show his focus waning when he’s using his powers?” Taeyong asks.

“Fighting wise, no. But I looked back at the videos of him breaking them out and I noticed that other than when he broke out Jaemin, someone else always talked and grabbed whoever was being pulled out. He stayed quiet and focused while he was phasing them through while someone else did the talking. When he broke Jaemin out, Jaemin couldn’t get a response from him while he was using his powers. It’s not solid but it does back up the idea on how much focus he uses when dealing with them,” Doyoung responds.

Like they said, he doesn’t use his powers often during the fights so they don’t have much evidence for this claim if they’re only basing it off of the fights. But it’s a good lead and it does have a good probability of being true if they’re basing it off of the way that team works with each other and the few times he did use his powers.

“So, we try to get him to use his powers on one of his members next time?” Jungwoo asks.

“It’s our best shot and our only lead at this point. If we can get him to use his power one time on one of his members then maybe we can get Johnny close enough to touch him and peer into his memories. It has to be quick and unexpected though so he really loses focus,” Jaehyun replies.

“But wouldn’t the others just cover him while he does so? That’s what they did last time. We’d have to find a way to keep them busy,” Taeil says.

How do you keep them busy though? It’s not like they can trap them in one of Jaehyun’s barriers or block them in with Jungwoo’s ice. If it was that simple then they would have defeated them a while ago. How do they keep them busy enough to not jump in to help Riot or to save the other member before Riot can even use his powers?

“What if we put them in the line of each others’ attacks? Like Jaemin can’t use his lightning to shatter an ice wall if one of his members are behind him or Renjun can’t throw a poison weapon if one of them is too close to his target. They’d adjust after a bit but the few moments where they are hesitating is all we really need,” Sicheng suggests.

No doubt the boys will find a way around it after a few minutes but they really only need them to be distracted for about one to two minutes so they can get close to Riot.

“It just may work but we’ll really have to plan it. Those boys think quick on their feet,” Taeyong says.   


But something is better than nothing. At least they have something to work with now. If this goes well then they’ll be able to have more information that can help them. Who knows what Johnny can find in Riot’s memories. Even the smallest hint to his identity is a big help for them.

They really need all they can get.

* * *

People scream as they try to run away despite the ground shaking beneath them.

“Okay seriously, whoever pissed off Jisung today really must have a death wish or hate the general population,” Donghyuck says, watching as their youngest cause havoc all on his own.

“Didn’t you see? Some journalist wrote an article about us but called mine and Jisung’s powers useless because it affects everyone, including our own team. They said they just can’t understand how NCT wasn’t able to stop two little kids like us. Jisung didn’t like some of the names they were calling me so here we are. That’s the building the person works in,” Chenle explains, standing perfectly fine as if there wasn’t an earthquake happening.

Said building is shaking violently as people still are running out from it, trying to get to safety before it collapses.

“Makes sense. Maybe you should join him then. I say you have a few more minutes before NCT shows up and we all get to have some fun,” Mark says.

Chenle smiles brightly under his mask at the idea and heads over to where Jisung is.

“This will really get them running,” he says to Jisung.

Jisung covers his ears and Chenle screeches in the direction of the building, shattering all of its windows. The people running now are ducking the falling glass shards while trying to move through the earthquake, covering their eyes so no glass falls in them.

“Oh look at how they grow up. I raised them so well,” Jaemin says, cooing.

He practically finds anything those two do as cute. With the way he treats them, especially Jisung, if you didn’t know basic biology, you’d believe him when he says he birthed them.

“I seriously believe you fried some of your brain cells at one point or another in your life,” Renjun says.

“Anyone else hear a hissing noise?” Jaemin responds, ignoring Renjun.

Renjun flips him off but Jaemin just goes back to watching the two destroy things. They’re all getting pretty used to the sound of people screaming all the time it’s almost as if they don’t even hear it anymore. 

“Heads up guys, we’re receiving company,” Mark says.

The temperature drops slightly before ice shoots ahead and freezes the falling glass. Jisung and Chenle immediately move out of the way and their members join them.

“I didn’t know you both were such harsh critics.”

Johnny gives Jisung and Chenle a look, referring to the building they were destroying. His team members stand next to him, standing with an air of heroic power.

The remaining crowd in the area cheers. NCT has finally arrived. They’re safe now and can escape while the heroes take care of it.

“Harsh is a strong word, we’re passionate,” Chenle says.

“Passion or not, we won’t allow this to happen,” Taeyong says.

Donghyuck and Jaemin snicker mockingly at Taeyong. Leave it to him to always try and make some declaration. It never fails to happen.

“Enough talking already, let’s get to the fighting. I’ve been dying to let loose for a while,” Jeno says, cracking his knuckles.

“Today, we make a difference in this fight,” Taeyong says to his team.

They nod. They’re ready for this. 

They have to jump out of the way immediately though because lightning rushes at them before they can even think about charging.

“Oops, seems like I got impatient,” Jaemin says.

And just like that, the fight starts.

Like most of their fights, it’s a matter of speed, reflexes, and creativity. You have to be fast enough to dodge one of Jeno’s hits and Renjun’s weapons. You have to be able to defend yourself quickly if you want to avoid one of Jaemin’s strikes or Donghyuck’s light attacks. You have to be creative to even get close to Jisung and to not get your ears blown out by Chenle.

And with the enigma that calls himself Riot, you have to have a bit of all three.

It’s about a few minutes into the fight with things going as they normally go before the heroes decide to switch it up.

Jaehyun, who is going against Jaemin, is moving back and forth to avoid the lightning bolts threatening to fry him. He moves till he is back to back with Doyoung who is going against Renjun. At the same time, right when Jaemin is about to fire again and Renjun releases another throwing knife, the two move out of the way.

Jaemin quickly directs his lighting somewhere else before it can hit Renjun and then jumps out of the way to avoid the blade. The two look at each other in surprise, feeling winded that they almost hit each other. 

Over to where Jungwoo is fighting Donghyuck, he keeps using his ice to block the younger’s sword attacks, though the heat of the light does melt the ice a bit. He keeps backing up, using more and more ice to defend himself from the attacks. Behind him, Yuta is popping up in and out, avoiding Jeno’s brutal hits. The two are drawing closer to each other.

Jungwoo puts up an ice shield as Donghyuck prepares to swing his sword again. Yuta takes him and they both disappear right as Donghyuck’ swings and Jeno punches the ice, breaking it. Jeno backs away quickly as the ice shatters and Donghyuck's bright sword gets too close to him, rubbing his eyes due to the sudden bright light. Donghyuck rushes over to him to make sure he’s okay, knowing that his eyes are more sensitive to too much light than regular people.

Nearby, Sicheng and Taeil are double-teaming Chenle, making the younger more frustrated. When he charges at one, another appears behind him, making him have to move out of the way. Taeil keeps creating random things to just throw at him. Nothing is really harming him but it is getting on his last nerve because it’s a distraction since Sicheng is good with hand-to-hand fighting and he can’t focus on fighting if he keeps getting hit with things like a stuffed animal or a rubber ball. It’s like they’re mocking him. Really, a stuffed animal?!

His patience finally leaves him once he is hit with yet another mocking thing, a rubber duck. He screams in the direction of Taeil, only realizing his mistake a little too late.

Taeil was standing directly in front of the already crumbling building that they were destroying earlier. Ten, who fighting Jisung, cornered the younger into a danger zone where the building’s debris would fall.

Chenle tries to move but Sicheng tackles him to the ground, taking away his focus from helping his member.

The only other person who sees the danger is none other than Riot who was going against Taeyong and Johnny.

He quickly turns away from them and pulls Jisung back and out of the danger zone using his powers as quickly as he can.

While trying to set Jisung down gently, he feels a hand wrap around his wrist tightly. He curses to himself as everything blurs.

_ “Wait for us in that building over there. Make sure all civilians are out of there and the area is safe,” Taeyong says to him. _

_ He holds himself back from rolling his eyes and gives a false smile. _

_ “No problem. I’ll make sure everyone is safe. Good luck in finding the detonator,” he says. _

_ Yuta ruffles his hair. _

_ “We’ll be back before you know. Be brave Raion,” he says teasingly, always making a baby lion joke about him. _

_ He nods and heads off to the building where he’ll once again be left alone while they go off to be the city’s heroes. _

_ … _

_ “We have to bring that building down. If he’s really using that entire structure as the starting point then it has to go.” _

_ He jumps up at the sound of his teammates talking over the comms. His earpiece has been messing up lately—and Sicheng still hasn’t fixed it—so sometimes he can hear them but they can’t hear him. _

_ He tries anyway. _

_ “No, no, there’s still someone in here. I’m still in here. I haven’t reached them yet,” he tries, still running to reach the last person remaining. _

_ It’s to no use though. _

_ “Bring that building down and protect the surrounding area. No one gets near it,” Taeyong says. _

_ “No! Wait!” _

_ No one hears him. _

_ He huffs and pushes himself faster to reach the person. Why did this person have to be on the very top floor? Either way, he has to get them and him out of here. How could they not even try to find out if there was anyone left in here? Even if there wasn’t someone remaining, how could they forget that HE’S in there? _

_ The building starts to shake and pieces of the roof start to fall down. Seeing that he’s not going to make it to the person in time, he makes a last-minute decision to use his powers. He never used them on a person but no better time to start than now. _

_ He lifts the person up from afar and without really thinking, he sends them out of the nearest window, knowing that the safety net Taeil created is still around the building. They always make sure the surrounding area is safe. _

_ ‘I have to get out of here,’ he thinks to himself as the floor beneath him shakes even more. _

_ But as he tries to leave the room he’s in, more of the roof crumbles, blocking the door and his way out of the room. _

_ ‘Maybe I could phase through it? But I’m not too good at that yet. Maybe I should jump out the window too? Will I even make it over there in time? What the hell do I do?’ _

_ In a state of panic and uncertainty, he does the one thing that comes to mind. _

_ “HELP! HELP ME PLEASE! HELP!” _

_ He shouts at the top of his lungs, praying for someone to hear him. His members always said they always hear a cry for help, especially if it’s for one of their own. There are a lot of things that his members do wrong but if it’s one thing he has to give to them it’s that they always save those in need. Please let them hear him. Please let them save him. Just this once please let him have faith in his members again. _

_ He runs back toward the window, dodging falling rocks and still shouting for help. He has to make it to the window. If he does, someone will either see him or he can jump out and something will catch him. He just has to make it. _

_ But luck is against him. _

_ Bigger pieces fall and block his way to the window. He tries to move the debris with his power, straining and struggling but nothing will move. He looks up and sees that the roof is really about to give out on him at any moment. _

_ With nowhere to go and no sign of help coming for him, he does the only thing left he can think of. He holds his hands up, putting all of power and effort to keep the falling pieces from crushing him. _

_ It all comes down. _

Riot screams and sends Johnny flying away. He holds his head, trying to stop the memory, trying to forget the pain.

His members rush to him, escaping the people they were fighting to go see if he’s okay.

His breathing is ragged, his eyes are shut closed tightly, and his body is taut. He still won’t let go of his head, the memory overwhelming him.

The heroes, seeing that his guard is finally down, prepare to go on the offensive. Maybe this is the day they finally defeat him. 

Riot’s team members, noticing the heroes ready to continue fighting, stand defensively in front of him. They don’t know what memory he just had to see but he’s clearly out of it for the moment so they’re not letting those heroes try to attack him.

“No! Don’t attack!” 

Everyone looks to Johnny who scrambles to his feet and rushes over to stand in the middle between the two sides, preventing his team from proceeding.

“Don’t attack him,” he says, breathing a bit heavily.

They stare at him in confusion but he doesn’t answer their unanswered questions. Instead, he turns around and faces the others, looking past the members and staring directly at Riot.

“M-Minhyung?” He asks, unsure and afraid.

The name makes every member of NCT shoot up straight, blood going cold.

It also makes Riot finally let go of his head and look up with a glare.

“That’s not my name,” he says through his ragged breathing.

Johnny takes a small step forward, wanting to flinch from the glare but refuses to back down.

“Raion, is it really you?” He asks.

“He’s been gone for the past two years,” Riot hisses.

The air is tense. Not even Jaemin’s electricity can make the air feel this charged. It’s as if everything else in the world blurred away and they’re the only things left, stuck in impossibly strong tension.

Yuta stumbles forward, staring at him in disbelief.

“No, no, it can’t be. It can’t be. Little Lion-”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” 

But his denial is what confirms what they didn’t want. That person standing in front of them, the very one who has been causing so much trouble to this city, is none other than their missing youngest.

“Stop looking at me like that! What, does it hurt your pride that your little old sidekick is a match for you?” He spits out, poison lacing his words.

Taeyong shakes his head no, still not grasping this situation. 

How is this the same boy they practically raised? They took him in when he was 13. They worked alongside him. They spent time with him and had fun moments with him. How is this angry, destructive villain their kind, cheerful Minhyung?

“How? W-why? What happened? Why are you doing this?” Taeyong asks, hurt and confusion in his voice.

Behind his mouth mask, Mark clenches his teeth.

He didn’t want this. He didn’t want them finding out who he was. He didn’t want to deal with their pity looks or their millions of questions. Why should they act like they care now once they found out that he’s no longer on their side? 

“I’m doing this because I want to,” he says.

“But you’re a hero! Why would you-”

He cuts Jaehyun off and says, “I am not a hero. I tried to be a hero. I tried to be your perfect little member but it didn’t work. Raion is gone and so is his foolish dream of being a stupid hero.”

The six behind him look on in worry. They’ve never seen him look so tense, not even when he was explaining his history to them. The way his hands are clenched tightly into a fist and his posture is rigid make them worry if he’s going to snap. They’ve all had snapping moments but they don’t know what his would look like. If his last one was bad enough to turn into a villain after six or so years of being a hero then what’s it going to be like now? They don’t intervene though. This is not their discussion.

“But you were our member! We looked everywhere for you when you disappeared. We didn’t know what happened to you,” Jungwoo says, voice sounding distraught.

“You all waited two weeks before you even thought to look for me. I was just an extra that you had and didn’t need,” he responds.

“That’s not true. We needed you. We were worried when you disappeared. We really cared for you,” Doyoung says.

Mark’s body shakes as an anger-filled laugh rises from his chest. 

“Cared? Cared?! You CARED FOR ME?! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE IN THAT DAMN BUILDING AND YOU THINK YOU CAN SAY THAT YOU CARED FOR ME?!” He shouts in hysteria.

They all flinch at the sound of his shout. His words cut but they don’t know why. What is he talking about?

“We didn’t leave you to die. We thought you escaped already when you weren’t responding to the comms. We didn’t know you were still in there,” Johnny says, desperation seeping in his words.

Everyone looks back and forth between Mark and Johnny. None of them know what either of the two is referring to but clearly it’s big.

“My earpiece was BROKEN! I said that over and over but as always no one listened to me! I couldn’t respond! You should have come and checked first before destroying the building you told me to wait in!” Mark exclaims.

Hot, angry, frustrated tears well up in Mark’s eyes unwantedly as his body continues to shake, negative energy overflowing within him.

“I screamed for your help. I begged for someone to help me. I was under that rubble for who knows how long before I regained consciousness. I had to limp to be healed all by myself because my damn teammates didn’t even think to look for me! And what did you bastards do the next time you saw me? You joked around about how I’m ‘always running off somewhere’ and didn’t even dare to think that maybe I didn’t leave but instead you LEFT ME!”

It was the one time in a while that he had faith in his teammates, that he thought he was part of the team enough for them to at least go looking for him and make sure he’s alright. Even if they didn’t save him, he would have been okay if they at least went to look for him after the building collapsed. But they didn’t. They didn’t care about him at all. It’s why he begged Kun not to tell them he needed healing. He didn’t want their false pity. They didn’t care to begin with so why let them pretend.

“We didn’t know, god we didn’t know. Please, believe me. I’m sorry we didn’t come and help you. I’m so sorry that we weren’t paying attention. We don’t know what you went through being trapped under there. We don’t know what you went through when you disappeared. But please, please don’t do this. This isn’t you. You’re better than this. We can talk about this, about all of this. You and your friends. We can all talk about this, we don’t have to fight. Please don’t do this,” Johnny begs.

Mark frustratedly wipes away his tears and gives Johnny a hardened stare. 

“I believed you once. I believed that I was cared for and that I belonged with you guys. I was a fool for believing you,” he says.

“No you weren’t, don’t say that. You do belong with us, we do care for you. Please, let us make this right. We don’t want to fight you,” Johnny pleads.

Mark scoffs.

“You had no problem fighting me before you knew my old identity. Don’t stop now just because you think I’m still him. I told you already, Raion is gone. Minhyung is gone. He’s never coming back. I am not a hero. I am not your teammate. I am a villain and it’s staying that way,” he says.

“That’s not true! You are a hero! You’re good, I know you are. I’ve known you for years and I know how your heart is. You don’t belong on that side. You’re not a villain. You aren’t this way,” Johnny replies.

Mark is tired of hearing that tone in the elder’s voice. He’s tired of seeing all of their looks. They only want to make things right because he’s no longer following them. He’s his own person and he has become one of the bigger threats they have faced. They just want to get him to stop fighting. They don’t care about how they treated him or how they betrayed his trust time and time again. He’s tired of their false emotions and misleading words.

“I looked up to you all before. I trusted you blindly and I suffered the consequences for that mistake. If it's one thing I found out it's that we  _ all _ have to face the consequences for the things we have done,” he says.

He raises his hand slowly. Cars, rubble, signs, and lights rise up with the motion. His eyes glow with power as he finally shows what he’s truly capable of. He’s no longer the boy trapped under the wreckage. No, he’s much different now. Much stronger.

“So now it’s time to face yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudo or a comment if you liked the story.
> 
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